Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

People were not born equal. This was a truth that Izuku Midoriya could not forget; the scars that painted his body prevented it.

The first recorded quirk-user was born in Keikei City, China, and they were known as the bioluminescent baby. Before long, people with all sorts of superpowers popped up left and right, centering around Asia and expanding outward. No one was sure what caused quirks to appear, but it quickly became clear that they were here to stay.

The world’s current quirked population was at 80%. However, that percentage skews the reality of things. The vast majority of the world’s quirkless population --16% out of 20%-- were over the age of sixty, and the highest percentage of people with quirks were born in Asian countries.

Imagine Izuku’s surprise when, at the tender age of four, a doctor told him that he wouldn’t get a quirk. He’d never pull things toward him like Mom could. He wouldn’t breathe fire like Mom told him Dad could. He wouldn’t get a combination that let him manipulate fire. He wouldn’t even get one of those rare mutations where a quirk that didn’t resemble the quirk of anyone in the family cropped up.

He was shocked. No one ever talked about quirkless people; Izuku hadn’t even realized that it was a possibility. He hadn’t known that people without powers existed.

Izuku remembered the moments after that clearly. His mother had driven them both home in a weighted silence, and he had gone back to their computer, watching All Might’s debut over and over again with tears in his eyes. 

“Mom…” he said. “No matter how much trouble you’re in… he’ll save you with a big smile. Can I be a super cool hero like that?”

Inko’s face scrunched up as tears rolled down her face, saying, “I’m sorry, Izuku! I’m so sorry!”

That wasn’t what he needed to hear. 

Izuku needed to hear that he could still do it, that he could still help people even without a quirk. His mother’s words didn’t discourage him though. That day, Izuku decided that he would hold his head up high and become a hero no matter what. If no one else would believe in him, then Izuku just had to believe in himself.

He quickly learned that nothing in life was quite that simple.

Teachers changed after they found out that he was quirkless. They stopped calling him a bright boy and only ever said his name during roll call. They looked at him with pity, disgust, or a combination of the two, and the other kids picked up on it. Teasing about him being different turned into outright bullying, and the name Izuku was lost to the cruel, taunting nickname that Bakugo gave him. Deku. Useless.

Izuku Midoriya wanted to be a hero more than anything else in the world. His classmates told him that his head was in the clouds --that he’d never be able to be a hero-- but he’d bet an entire month’s allowance that none of them had looked at the statistics that he did.

UA was the only high school in the country that allowed quirkless applicants. They weren’t the only hero school; they were the only high school, period. The others didn’t outright say that quirkless people weren’t allowed to apply, but Izuku had always been good at reading between the lines. Those who knew where to look would see it too.

If he didn’t get into UA, into at least the general education course, then he was going to be thrust into a workforce where it was legal to pay him less than half of what everyone else made. All of this because he didn’t have a quirk. He refused to become that kind of permanent burden on his mother.

Izuku loved his mother. She wasn’t perfect, but she was the only person that he had. She noticed when he started coming home bruised and burned, and she always helped patch him up with tears in her eyes, walking him through the steps so that he could do it himself if she wasn’t home. She swore to him that she would go sort things out with the teachers. He remembered looking up at her at seven years old --seeing her eyebrows furrowed in the determination she had to have as a lawyer-- and being unable to bring himself to tell her that the teachers already knew.

It didn’t matter. The expression on her face the next day told him that she found out either way.

Initially, his mother had been determined to get him enrolled in an online school. She couldn’t homeschool him --not with how busy her job kept her-- but she wanted him to be safe. No programs would take him. They always told her that they’d met capacity for the year, that they couldn’t take any more students, but they knew. They both knew.

Inko signed him up for self-defense classes instead. It had been difficult to find one that would take him, but she eventually did, and Izuku found confidence in knowing that he was capable of protecting himself. That was the first step to protecting others, after all. 

Izuku knew that his mother still didn’t believe that he could be a hero --he could see it in her eyes-- but when he asked her if he could start Aikido classes right before his first year of middle school, she said yes.

He never used anything that he learned in those lessons at school --he didn’t want to give Aldera the excuse to expel him; he knew that they’d jump on it and then he’d never get into UA-- but as time went by, he grew more confident in his techniques and more sure that he’d get away from his bullies if he was allowed to defend himself.

Izuku Midoriya was on the path to become a hero. He would claw his way up from the bottom and ensure that people were never treated the way that he was ever again. 

However, one cannot forget that a hero to some is a villain to others.

-

“You guys are all third-years now, so it’s time to start seriously thinking about your futures!” his homeroom teacher cried out, taking a piece of paper off the top of the stack as he looked over them all. 

Izuku kept his head down low --jotting down his observations about Mount Lady after he’d seen her debut earlier this morning-- as his teacher slammed his hands down on his desk. “I would hand out these future career forms, but…” 

Papers flew all over the classroom after the teacher threw them. “I know you all want to be heroes!”

There was a cacophony of cheers as everyone else in the classroom started using their quirks. Izuku tensed up briefly before forcing himself to relax. “Yes, yes, you all have wonderful quirks. But you know that it’s against the rules to use them in school,” his teacher chided, putting up a token protest, as usual.

Nobody stopped using their quirks. 

“Don’t lump me in with these losers!” Bakugo scoffed. 

Izuku had stopped calling Bakugo Kaachan a long time ago --his mother had sat him down and explained that friends don’t hurt you, at least not on purpose, and that what Bakugo was doing was wrong-- and it was in moments like this that he wondered if he’d imagined the version of Bakugo that he used to admire.

“I’m the real deal. These extras will be lucky to become sidekicks to some busted D-Lister!”

His classmates loudly protested that, but his teacher only encouraged Bakugo’s ego by saying, “Ah, Bakugo… You’ll be aiming for UA, of course.”

Izuku could feel himself sinking even lower in his seat, resting his face on one of his arms as he hid from the world. He knew that Bakugo would get into UA. Everyone in the school knew that. It was probably why they never put a black mark on his record, not even when he beat up kids who weren’t Izuku.

“I aced the mock exam!” Bakugo screamed as he jumped up onto his desk. “I’m the only one here that’s got what it takes! I’m gonna surpass even All Might and become number one! And I’ll get super rich doing it too.” 

‘Because your family is already struggling so much,’ Izuku thought snarkily. With Bakugo’s mom working as a model --he’d stopped calling her Aunt Mitsuki after his mom had a falling out with her once vague burns started becoming more and more obviously starburst shaped-- for Bakugo’s father --who was one of the most prominent clothing designers in Japan-- his family wasn’t exactly hurting for money. Izuku tried not to feel bitter about that, but seeing his mother working herself to the bone on and off the clock to support them was upsetting. He still felt bad for not understanding just how tight the budget was when he was younger; there was a reason why all of his hero merch was several years old at this point.

“You’re also aiming for UA, aren’t you, Midoriya?”

Izuku froze at the sound of his teacher’s voice. The entire room went dead quiet as every student in the room turned to face him before bursting into laughter.

“Midoriya?! No way!”

“Good grades alone can’t get you into the hero program!”

“I never said that I was going for the hero program,” he said, quieting most of the room. “UA is the best of the best, but that’s not only for heroics. There’s support, management, and gen ed courses too, you know?”

“Get real, Deku!” A familiar wave of heat came, and Izuku barely jerked his chair back in time to avoid his uniform getting charred alongside his desk. He still tipped backward with the movement, landing on the ground with a grunt as his chair tipped over.

“Forget all these other extras with their crappy quirks, you’re totally quirkless! You think that you can rub shoulders with me?!”

“I’m not trying to compete with you at all! Every hero needs a support system, right? I figured that if I can’t help people directly…” Izuku was desperately trying to deescalate the situation, but Bakugo seemed particularly angry today.

“And who would want help from someone as useless as you, hah?! You can’t even help yourself, much less a hero!”

‘I think that you’d be surprised, Bakugo.’

Izuku let none of his thoughts show on his face. He just ducked his head, relieved when the first bell rang. He gathered his things before sitting back down at his smoldering desk, tuning out the review as he kept writing the details of today’s fight down, touching up Kamui Wood’s page while he was at it.

The rest of the day flew by with little incident, and Izuku had hope that he would be able to sneak out before anything else happened. Bakugo dashed that hope immediately by snatching Izuku’s notebook from his hands.

“I ain’t done talking to you, Deku.”

Bakugo’s lackeys peered at the cover of Izuku’s notebook, laughing at what was written on the cover. “Quirk Analysis for My Future?! Come on, Midoriya…”

“Your creepy notebooks aren’t going to help any heroes, Deku. Give it up already.”

“Come on! Just give it back. I’m not hurting anybody--”

Izuku’s protest was cut off by the sound of an explosion, and he watched in despair as Bakugo tossed his ruined notebook out of the window. He tried to bite back his words, but he still let out a strangled “Why?”

Bakugo huffed at him. “Stupid Deku. The best heroes out there… they all showed signs of greatness, even when they were still students. I’ll be the first and only hero to come from this shitty school. It’s all a part of my perfect backstory!”

‘That’s… is that why he goes to school here? He lives in the district, but I know his parents offered to send him to a better school.’

“You getting into UA, even as some extra, would mar that backstory! In other words… don’t even think about applying,” Bakugo said menacingly, leaning forward and resting his hand on Izuku’s shoulder as his quirk burned through the fabric of his uniform.

Izuku went quiet, trembling as he bit back a cry of pain. The group of students that were lingering scoffed, starting to walk away as one of them said, “Jeez, how typical. C’mon, at least say something.”

“He can’t say anything,” Bakugo taunted with a sneer that Izuku could hear through his voice alone. “He’s always been so lame. Even as a third-year, he just can’t face reality.” Bakugo paused, and Izuku felt ice plunge through his veins at the look that his bully was giving him.

“Oh yeah! I’ve got an idea for ya. Do you really wanna be useful so badly? If you do, then go take a swan dive off the roof of the building and pray to be born with a quirk in your next life!”

Izuku jolted at that, and it was impossible to keep the shock off his face. Bakugo glared at him and popped off more explosions as he said, “Yeah? Got something to say?”

‘You’ve… never gone this far. They’d have to give even you a record if I jumped. You realize that, right?’

“That’s what I thought,” Bakugo scoffed.

As Bakugo and his lackeys walked out of the classroom, Izuku acknowledged that the burning anger that he’d let simmer for years might be hatred after all. ‘Why is it that someone like him is told that he’s gonna be a hero every day while I’m ridiculed for even wanting to try? I just want to help people. Bakugo doesn’t want to help anyone but himself.’

Izuku clenched his fist, took a deep breath as he blinked the tears out of his eyes, and exited the school building. He walked around to the pond that his notebook had landed in, digging it out with a sigh. 

“I’m gonna have to try to dry out the pages and transfer any legible notes to another notebook, I guess.” Izuku was glad that his notebooks weren’t expensive; he had to rewrite them entirely too often.

Izuku was thrumming with indignation on his walk home, grimacing at the rank smell of his pond-soaked notebook as he walked under an underpass. ‘Why is the smell so strong all of a sudden?’

The manhole that Izuku had just walked past rattled, and he froze, slowly turning around as someone made of sludge rose from the holes in the cover.

“A medium-sized body to hide in…”

Izuku ran, but he didn’t get far before the sludge enveloped him. Aikido couldn’t help him at all here --he couldn’t redirect blows if his opponent wasn’t solid-- and Izuku squirmed helplessly, bitter tears forming once again.

“Don’t worry, kid. I’m just hijacking your body. Only 45 seconds and it’ll all be over…”

‘No. No! It can’t end like this.’

“You’re my hero. I never thought that he’d come to town…” Izuku’s hands jerked as he tried to get them out of the sludge, making the villain laugh. “There’s no point in that! I’m completely fluid, you know?”

Izuku’s vision was spotting with black. He couldn’t breathe, but something about what the sludge villain said rang false. ‘His… eyes. I’ve gotta… I can’t die like this--’ Slowly, one of his hands moved toward the villain’s face. It was hard to aim when he could barely see, but Izuku’s fingernails managed to scrape the edge of something that felt like a different kind of wet from the sludge.

The villain howled, “You little--” For a split second, the sludge around his mouth was gone, and Izuku took a deep breath before clamping his mouth shut again, preventing the sludge from diving into something larger than a nostril.

“Fear not, kid!” a familiar voice cried. The manhole hit the roof of the underpass with a resounding clang, and when Izuku looked over that way, his eyes widened at who he saw. “I am here!”

All Might drew back his fist. “Texas… Smash!!” The shockwave of air completely flung the sludge off of Izuku, but it also knocked him back into the wall. He grimaced as he rubbed at his head, eyes widening in alarm when his hand came back red. 

The sludge villain was scooped up into two soda bottles that All Might was carrying, and Izuku still couldn’t believe his eyes as All Might walked over to him. “Are you okay, kid?”

Izuku didn’t even answer before All Might continued, saying, “Apologies for getting you caught up in my villain hunt. The sewer system was more complex than I had imagined!” All Might laughed, and Izuku chuckled alongside him, too relieved to be alive and too excited to see his idol to care about a head wound. ‘Even small ones bleed excessively, so I should be fine, right? I’ve had worse.’

“My success today is thanks to you!” All Might cried as he grabbed Izuku’s notebook. He watched, wide-eyed, as his idol flipped toward the end and asked, “Who should I make this out to, kid?”

“I-Izuku. Izuku Midoriya! Thank you so much! This’ll be a family heirloom!!” Izuku scrambled to his feet and bowed, stumbling as dizziness rushed over him. All Might gently guided him out of the underpass before handing his notebook back.

“Now then, I must take this fellow to the police. Do you have a phone?” Izuku nodded. “Then make sure to call an ambulance to get your head checked out!”

“W-wait… That can’t be it--” Izuku needed someone else to make that call. Quirklessness was heavily discriminated against in the medical field. Doctors and nurses had told both him and his mother that their machines simply weren’t compatible with people like him and that the staff’s quirks needed to assist with higher priority cases. A scraped knee would class as a higher priority case than helping a quirkless person with anything.

“A pro battles both villains and time, kid! Sorry, but I’ve gotta be going. Until next time!” All Might crouched down, and Izuku --in a fit of fear or desperation, he wasn’t sure-- grabbed on. They rocketed through the sky, and Izuku closed his eyes as he clutched onto All Might’s leg for dear life.

“Hey now! I appreciate your support, but your enthusiasm is a bit much! Let go!” All Might started thrashing around, and Izuku held on even tighter, life flashing before his eyes.

“If I let go, then I’ll die!” he shrieked. Thankfully, All Might seemed to accept that and stopped trying to get him off, heading over to a nearby rooftop instead. When they landed, Izuku fell to his hands and knees.

“Of all the--! Hopefully, the people downstairs will let you out of the building, but I don’t have the time!” All Might sounded irritated, refusing to even look at Izuku, and was already walking over to the edge of the rooftop.

Izuku stood up as quickly as he could, holding out a hand as he said, “Wait! Please--”

“No! I will not wait!”

Izuku intended to ask him to call an ambulance, but he wound up asking another question entirely. “Even without a quirk… can I still be a hero?” 

Green eyes closed as he waited for All Might’s response. Izuku had promised himself that he’d become one no matter what, but there was still a part of him that was desperate to hear someone, anyone, say yes. He wanted someone to believe in him. All Might was always saying that anyone could be a hero, so Izuku knew that he’d be able to keep going if he heard him say it personally.

“Quirks are…” All Might’s voice went quiet.

Izuku’s eyes opened slightly, looking to the ground as he said, “Because I don’t have a quirk… I’ve always been bullied. That’s why I want to save people. I want to help them so they don’t suffer like I have. I started taking self-defense classes young and I’ve got over two years of Aikido under my belt too!” Izuku was desperate for him to understand. He’d been working so hard for this, honing his body and mind alike in his pursuit of heroics. 

“I want to save people with a fearless smile, just like you!” Izuku looked up, freezing when he saw a tall, thin, blond man standing where All Might was before, steam rising up around him. “A transformation quirk? Hm… he could be an impostor, but he’s got All Might’s height, coloration, and even his bangs! I guess this explains why no one ever sees you outside of hero work--”

All Might chuckled nervously, blood leaking from his mouth as he said, “You’re correct. I am All Might.”

“... Shouldn’t you go see a doctor? That can’t be healthy.” Izuku felt a bit hypocritical saying that, but it wasn’t like anyone would refuse service to All Might.

“This happens all the time, kid. I’m fine.” All Might sat down with a sigh, looking up at Izuku as he mumbled, “A fearless smile, huh?”

‘He’s… really not like how I expected him to be. I know that all heroes have personas, but still…’

“Don’t go telling anyone about this form, kid.”

“I would never--” Izuku’s voice cut out as All Might lifted the side of his shirt, revealing a massive scar on the upper left of his torso. He barely stifled a gasp.

“Five years ago… an enemy did this to me. My respiratory system was nearly destroyed, and I lost my stomach. Even after surgery, the aftereffects have had me wasting away ever since. I can’t do hero work for much more than three hours a day now.”

‘So that’s why he kept saying he was out of time…’ Izuku’s eyes narrowed. “Five years ago? There’s no way Toxic Chainsaw did this.” The scar would look more jagged and less like a crater if he had; this looked like something that spread out from a single, incredibly forceful impact.

“You’ve done your homework, huh? You’re right; that lowlife didn’t do this to me.” All Might’s let his shirt fall back down, and Izuku wouldn’t deny being relieved. It looked so painful. “This fight wasn’t a public one. Or rather, I ensured that this fight wasn’t made public. A Symbol of Peace, someone who saves with a smile… he cannot be daunted by evil.”

The thought that there were villains out there strong enough to give All Might trouble was a scary one. Izuku imagined the unease that everyone would feel if they saw All Might get hurt like this, and he understood why All Might pushed himself so hard with the three hours that he could work as a hero. ‘People depend on him. Losing him so suddenly or realizing that he could be lost… it’d be a disaster.’

“My smile is far from fearless, kid. I smile to keep the fear and pressure at bay. A pro has to be willing and ready to risk his life at all times…” All Might looked at him, and Izuku silently pleaded for him to stop talking. He could already see All Might’s answer all over his face.

“Someone without power… I cannot say that they can become a hero.”

Izuku didn’t even register the tears welling up in his eyes. A strangled whine escaped his lips as he trembled in place, watching All Might walk away like he hadn’t just destroyed his dreams.

“If you really wanna help people, then you could always be a police officer, kid. It’s not wrong to dream, but you’ve gotta be realistic.” All Might threw a wave over his shoulder as he walked through the roof access door, leaving Izuku standing there all alone.

“But I… I couldn’t.” Even if they didn’t have quirks that benefitted them in investigations or on the field, police officers were required to have quirks. It was hidden in the fine print, but they refused to allow liabilities on the field. Quirkless people were always considered liabilities in the eyes of the law.

Izuku sobbed. His vision blurred with tears, and for a long, painful moment, he looked over at the edge of the rooftop. Bakugo’s taunt echoed in his head. Izuku took a single step toward the railing before stumbling backward, rushing down the stairs and out of the building as quickly as he could. 

He was terrified of giving himself a chance to change his mind.

‘It doesn’t… It doesn’t mean anything, right?’ he thought as he walked home, rubbing his eyes. ‘Everything is the same. No one believes in me, but that’s nothing new. I just have to… I just have to…’ Izuku paused when he heard explosions, looking over at a crowd that had gathered to watch another villain attack. 

Before he even realized it, Izuku wandered over to join them, and his eyes widened in horror when he saw the sludge villain wreaking havoc. ‘Did… did All Might drop him because of me? This is my fault!’

“Why aren’t the heroes doing anything?”

“Looks like the villain grabbed some kid.”

‘Someone else is enduring that pain? Because of me? I’m so sorry… Someone will come to save you soon, so just wait--’ Izuku paled even further when he saw familiar red eyes peering out from the sludge.

‘That’s?! Bakugo is an ass, but no one deserves this.’ Izuku had never seen Bakugo look so afraid before. He opened his backpack, pulled out a pair of scissors and a few sharpened pencils, and dropped it at the front of the crowd before bursting through the blockade by ducking between Death Arms and a police officer. 

“Get back here, you moron! Are you trying to get yourself killed?!”

Izuku tuned them out. He distantly registered the sludge villain saying something, but that didn’t matter right now. All that mattered was that Bakugo could die, no one else was helping, and Izuku knew this villain’s weakness. He bared his teeth in a snarl as he swung the scissors around, and the sludge villain, seeing exactly where he was aiming, panicked.

He swung the scissors through the sludge just under the sludge villain’s eyes, grinning when the villain flinched back before realizing that he hadn’t felt any pain. “Hah, you missed--” Izuku’s right hand reached through the sludge to grab onto Bakugo’s arm as his left hand swung around, revealing three pencils held between his knuckles in makeshift claws. 

Izuku wasn’t trying to miss this time, so he didn’t. Pencils would cause a lot less permanent damage than blades --even the ones in scissors-- would, after all. The villain screamed. Sludge fell away from Bakugo as the villain recoiled, and Izuku took the opportunity to jerk Bakugo away from him. 

“Why would you--” Bakugo jumped back as the sludge villain surged forward again, releasing an explosion near the villain’s face. ‘Good. You noticed it too.’

“You just… you looked like you needed saving!” Izuku said, baring his teeth as the sludge gave up on Bakugo and turned to Izuku again. ‘Just try it. I won’t go down without a fight.’

In the end, Izuku didn’t need to. All Might came rushing forward in his hero form, steaming as blood leaked from his mouth yet again. “I ought… to practice what I preach!” 

Izuku darted back as All Might swung his fist, watching as a Detroit Smash splattered the sludge all over the place. A cold chill fell over the area, and when Izuku glanced up, he saw dark clouds rolling over them as rain started falling from above.

‘Huh. Who would’ve thought that I’d ever get to see a weather-changing punch in person?’ The crowd of civilians was just as awed as he was, and the heroes that had been standing by before came together to gather the sludge villain up. 

‘There were more heroes here than I thought. Backdraft, Mt. Lady, Kamui Woods, Death Arms, Slugger… Why did none of them do anything?’ Death Arms marched over to him and chewed him out for illegal quirk usage and needlessly putting himself in danger, and Slugger wasn’t far behind him. Izuku knew that saying he didn’t have a quirk to use illegally would only make things worse, so he just sat there quietly and let them yell at him until they huffed about him not even listening and walked off.

Bakugo, on the other hand, had impressed a couple of the heroes with his quirk. Izuku tried not to let it sting that Bakugo was already being offered sidekick positions when Izuku was the one that saved him. ‘It’s not like I did it to be recognized, but still…’ 

After insisting that he was fine, Izuku escaped the paramedics --he refused to give them his name; they would know if he did-- and started walking home. ‘Mom’s gotta be worried sick. I should probably call her.’

“Oi, Deku!”

Izuku blinked, looking back at where Bakugo was standing. ‘Huh. Why’d he follow me when he was getting the heroes' attention?’

“I… I never asked you to save me, you got it?! I could’ve beaten him myself! How dare some quirkless failure pity me? Are you trying to win me over?! It won’t happen, so stop fucking mocking me!”

Bakugo spun around after saying his piece, and Izuku watched him go with a sigh. ‘Honestly, his refusal to accept help isn’t going to do him any favors as a hero.’ Izuku resolved to wipe his hands of this entire incident, putting both Bakugo and All Might words out of his mind.

‘Today was proof that I can do it. I probably wouldn’t have been able to get away from the sludge villain the first time without All Might’s help, true, but that doesn’t change the fact that five licensed heroes stood around as I saved Bakugo with some school supplies and determination. Who cares if they never take me seriously? I can still save people.’

Izuku cared. Izuku cared a lot, but he would learn how to deal with it if it meant that he could do more of what he did today. He sighed, turning back around and continuing on his way home. Suddenly, All Might rushed out from a side street and stood before Izuku in his hero form. ‘It can’t be good for him to push it like this…’

As if the thought had undone a spell that they were both standing under, All Might reverted to his other form with several bloody coughs. “Kid… I’ve come to thank you and revise what I said earlier. I also have a proposal for you.”

‘What? Did he… did he change his mind?’

“Without you… If I hadn’t heard your story, then I would’ve stood among the crowd and done nothing, resigned to being out of time.”

Izuku shook his head frantically. “That was my fault in the first place though! You never would’ve dropped him if I hadn’t grabbed onto you.”

“Maybe so, but that doesn’t change the fact that, of all the people on the scene, it was only you, timid and quirkless, that acted! You inspired me, kid.” All Might looked at him with a smile, and Izuku could feel hope rising within him.

“Most of the top heroes show signs of greatness from a young age. Many of them claim that their bodies moved before they could even think. Their desire to save others spurs them forward, no matter the consequences! That’s what happened to you back there, yes?!”

“Y-yes,” Izuku stammered, tears welling up in his eyes. “Yes! I just wanted to help him. I couldn’t stand there and watch!”

“Young Midoriya… You can be a hero.”

Izuku sobbed as he fell, and his poor, abused knees would definitely need to be iced after a day like today. He didn’t care how much he hurt or how sore he was right now, though. He’d finally heard the words that he’d wanted to hear his entire life, and his idol was the one who said them to him.

‘I changed All Might’s mind about a quirkless hero!’

“And I believe that you’re worthy of inheriting my power.”

Izuku blinked at that, looking up to All Might with a dumbfounded expression. “Huh?”

All Might burst into laughter. “What’s that look for?! I did tell you that I had a proposal. The real work starts here. I’m asking you if you want to accept my power!”

‘What… does he mean by that?’

“I’m talking about my quirk, young Midoriya.” All Might held his hand out to him, helping Izuku to his feet. “Everyone speculates that my quirk is some form of super strength or a power boost, but it’s nothing quite so simple as that. I always dodge the question with a joke during interviews because All Might, the Symbol of Peace, has to be seen as a natural-born hero.”

‘Is he implying that--’

“However! In truth, my quirk was passed down to me from another. And now… it could be your turn.”

Izuku was so shocked that he couldn’t say a word. A quirk that could be passed down from person to person --not even through families, but entirely willingly-- defied almost everything that they knew about quirks. ‘I know that we’re still learning a lot about them, but this… it seems too good to be true.’ 

“Stunned into silence, are you? Indeed, the quirk that I inherited is the ability to transfer power to another. It is called One for All! One person cultivates the power before passing it to the next, then to the next, then to the next, until it finally wound up with me. Now, young Midoriya… I wish to pass it to you.”

“Why… me?” he finally managed, head swimming with a million possibilities and complex feelings that he couldn’t quite name right now.

“I’ve been searching for a successor for a while now, but you were the first to truly capture my attention. My boy, today you were more heroic than anyone else on the scene. You rushed out to save that boy, had a plan of attack that you executed perfectly with minimal damage, and you saved the boy too! I know heroes with years of training and professional experience that couldn’t have managed what you did today.”

‘Then why? Why does it still sound like you…’

“I cannot think of anyone better suited for my quirk. It is entirely up to you, though. What do you say?”

‘All Might… He’s trusting me with his secrets. He’s the first person to ever tell me that I could do this. How could I possibly say no?’

“Yes.” Izuku’s voice wavered as he said it, but he was certain of his decision.

“A quick answer,” All Might said with a chuckle and a grin. “I expected nothing less from you.” His idol reached for Izuku’s notebook and wrote something else across the pages that he signed earlier, and Izuku’s eyes widened as he read it. “We’ll begin training soon. For now, you should head home.”

All Might walked off before Izuku could say anything. If he wasn’t still looking at All Might’s signature with his phone number written underneath it, then Izuku wouldn’t have believed that anything about today happened at all.

‘I met my idol. I saved someone for the first time and even impressed All Might while doing so. He offered me his quirk! It’s my dream come true. I’ll get to be a hero just like All Might! So then why…’

Why did it hurt so badly for Izuku to say yes?

Chapter Text

A couple of days later, Izuku met up with All Might at Takoba Municipal Beach Park. He had to wake up earlier than he usually would to get here in time, but Izuku was hardly going to complain about waking up early to go train with All Might, of all people.

‘I am going to complain about being forced to pull an already heavy fridge with All Might sitting on top of it, though.’

The aforementioned hero laughed as he said, “It feels quite nice up here! I bet it’d feel even nicer with some movement, though.”

“Come on, All Might… You’re 600 pounds alone!”

“Nope! I’ve lost weight since that interview. I’m closer to 560 now.”

Knowing that fact didn’t keep Izuku from collapsing into the sand, heaving with exertion after moving the fridge a couple of inches. “Hey… Why do you have me dragging trash across this beach anyway?”

“Because you’re an ill-suited vessel!”

“What?! You said that I was worthy before--” ‘Please stop jerking me around like this. I’m not sure I can take it.’ Izuku cried as All Might laughed and took pictures, and he hated this feeling. Izuku always seemed to be the butt of some cruel joke.

“Your spirit is there, yes, but your body isn’t prepared yet! One for All binds the physical strength of many people into one. You’ve got some lean muscle from your training before, but that’s not enough to handle this power. Your limbs would probably pop right off!”

“Oh… so you wanted to bulk me up by having my haul trash?” That was a relief. All Might didn’t seem like the kind of person to lie to his face like that, but Izuku had worried that he might’ve changed his mind.

“Exactly! But that’s not all.” All Might dropped down from the top of the fridge, knocking his hand against one of the top corners of the appliance and crushing it. “I did some research on this beach, you see! This one section has been covered in trash for years.”

Izuku nodded. “Yeah, I remember reading something about ocean currents dragging a lot of stuff to this spot. People took advantage of the buildup to dump their junk here too, even though they shouldn’t… Locals avoid this place like the plague.”

“The heroes of today only want fame and glory,” All Might said, and Izuku couldn’t help thinking of Bakugo. “But! Being a hero is about volunteer work! It doesn’t matter how unglamorous a job is; it’s a hero’s duty to help. So…” All Might crushed the entire fridge beneath his fist.

“Let’s clean this beach and make it a place worth visiting again! This is the first step on your path to becoming a hero!”

‘So cool… It’s a good lesson too. I don’t ever want to forget about the little things, even if it’s hard to call this little.’ A grin slowly spread across Izuku’s face. “Cleaning up the whole beach, huh?”

“Exactly. You want to get into UA, right?”

“Of course!” Izuku exclaimed. “UA is the best of the best, and it’s your alma mater. I want to go if at all possible! Their heroics program is amazing, and even their academics are unmatched.” Izuku had never had any other options, but that didn’t make his admiration of UA --both for its programs and the fact that it accepted quirkless applicants at all-- any less genuine.

All Might chuckled before saying, “You really are a fanboy, huh? Well, it’s like I said before… That wouldn’t be possible for someone who’s quirkless. It’s sad, but it’s still the truth. That’s the reality we live in.”

Izuku’s heart twisted in his chest, and he finally realized why accepting All Might’s offer was so painful. ‘He doesn’t believe in me. He believes in his quirk. He believes that I could be great with it, but he’s like everyone else, isn’t he? He thinks that I’m nothing without a quirk.’

“UA’s hero course is the toughest there is. You’re nowhere near ready for it now.”

“I’ve got ten months before the entrance exam,” Izuku murmured. “I’ll need to make sure that my body is a suitable vessel before that point.” He would be going up against people who had their entire lives to hone their quirks, and Izuku needed to get at least a little experience with his own before getting there. He refused to go into this blind.

“That’s what this is for!” All Might cried out, holding a stack of papers out to Izuku. “This is my ‘Pass the Test, American Dream’ plan that’s designed to whip you in shape just in time for the exams! It’s a training regimen not only for cleaning up the garbage but for everything else too! Your entire lifestyle can be charted out with this.”

Izuku took the papers and flipped through them with wide eyes. ‘He even allotted a specific amount of time for sleep… Waking up at four in the morning is going to suck, but I can do this. I have to. I have to prove myself to him.’

“This is gonna be super tough, kid. Can you do it?!”

“Yeah! I always knew that I was gonna have to work harder than everyone else to make it, All Might. This is no different from that!”

So, Izuku began training in earnest for UA’s entrance exams. It was grueling work that left him sore and exhausted, but he worked at it every day. All Might’s training plan was a good one, but when Izuku looked over it more in-depth, he knew that he wouldn’t be moving fast enough if he stuck to it.

‘It’s got too many break days. I’m in pretty decent shape, and while I know that I can’t strain the same muscle groups without allowing them to rest for a couple of days, I can haul different types of trash and do different stretches on the break days instead.’ 

Izuku wound up getting rid of all but one of his rest days each week, and while Aikido was helpful, he asked his mother not to sign him up for next month’s lessons or any after that point. He would practice his katas at home in between his other exercises; Izuku didn’t have the time to keep going to the dojo.

All Might couldn’t always supervise him, of course, so Izuku often found himself on the beach alone. He left the bigger pieces of trash alone unless he had supervision, but Izuku didn’t need someone to watch him as he moved bottles, tires, and desks over to where they loaded up the truck. If his arms needed to recover, then Izuku would bring rope, tie trash to himself, and drag it instead. He made it work.

At first, All Might seemed concerned by how quickly Izuku was making progress on the beach, but as time went by with no sign of Izuku overworking himself, his mentor allowed him to keep going as he was. Izuku’s mother watched him charge forward with determination, and though he’d hesitated to bring the meal plan to her, she helped him with a warm smile and a determination that mirrored his own. 

Finally, three months before the entrance exam, Izuku had done it. Takoba was spotless. He sat down heavily on the sand, watching the sunrise that hadn’t even been visible over the piles of trash when he first started this. ‘It really is beautiful.’

“Oh my goodness!” All Might exclaimed. “You went above and beyond both in time and scope! There’s not a speck of trash, not even in other sections.” 

Izuku turned back to All Might with a massive smile. “Told you I could do it. Now we have time to practice with One for All too!”

“I’m so proud of you, young Midoriya. You’ve worked harder than even I expected of you. Don’t doubt for a second that you’ve earned this power. That being said…” All Might reached up the top of his head, plucking a hair from it. “Eat this!”

“What?” Izuku felt like he was being punked right now.

“One for All has to be passed down by ingesting DNA! A strand of hair is the most sanitary and safe way to go about that.”

“Oh…” Izuku hesitantly took the hair, steeling himself before he brought it to his mouth. He gagged trying to swallow it, but it did eventually go down. Izuku drank a lot of water afterward, trying to get rid of the unpleasant, tickling sensation in his throat. “I… don’t feel any different.”

“It takes some time to work, my boy. Don’t worry! For now, why don’t you go home, rest, and spend some time with your mother? No more than light exercises, and I mean it!” All Might exclaimed while pointing at him. “I like your go-getter energy, but you need to be fully rested before trying to use One for All.”

Izuku agreed easily enough. He couldn’t disagree with All Might --it’s not like Izuku knew how quirks worked on a personal level-- and he needed to iron out a few other details anyway. Most importantly, Izuku needed to come up with an explanation for how he suddenly wound up with a quirk.

‘I know that I can’t tell Mom about One for All, but I can’t leave her completely in the dark either. She’ll notice that I have a quirk. And maybe, just maybe… she’ll support my dream now too.’

-

Izuku felt the exact moment that One for All settled within him. A rush of power flooded his veins while he was formatting a page for analyzing his own quirk, startling him so badly that he almost snapped his pencil in half.

‘Woah. This is… I didn’t expect there to be so much energy, but I guess that makes sense if it’s been cultivated by so many people. Maybe I could register it as an energy quirk? The last thing I need to do is draw attention to myself by having a quirk too similar to All Might’s. That wouldn’t work if I transform like he does, though.’ 

The thought kept nagging at him, and everything circled back around to Izuku needing to see what One for All looked like to come up with a cover story. ‘Mom wouldn’t buy me deciding against testing One for All, not with the way that I dissect quirks. It should be okay as long as I don’t try to do anything with it, right?’

Izuku hesitated for a few moments before throwing caution to the wind. He took a deep breath, activated One for All, and immediately grimaced at the rush of power that burned through him. Only his experience with being quiet through pain kept him from screaming out, and he switched the quirk off with a gasp of relief.

Luckily, Izuku hadn’t managed to hurt himself --he checked-- but he was stumped about what to do now. ‘I didn’t even get the chance to see if One for All looks any different for me. How am I supposed to use it if I’m in blinding pain just by turning it on? There was way too much power, so how am I supposed to… Oh.’

His eyes widened as he realized something. ‘All Might doesn’t use his full power all the time! He can crush fridges with almost no effort and using that kind of force against people would kill them. One for All isn’t a light switch; it’s a water valve! I have to only let a stream of power through instead of the whole waterfall.’

He didn’t want to push his luck, but Izuku knew that his mother was right in the other room working through case files. If he wound up hurt this time, then he could call out for her. He closed his eyes and braced for it before slowly, steadily, letting a trickle of power flow through him. He stopped turning the valve as soon as the power started edging toward being painful again, and Izuku opened his eyes, gasping when he saw green lightning arcing around him.

‘Is this excess energy sparking off of me? It’s not damaging anything it touches, so I think that it’s just a visual thing. I guess this is my equivalent of another form…’ Izuku grinned wide, eyes shining with glee. ‘This works perfectly! I can pass One for All off as an energy quirk with no issue.’

Green lightning faded from existence as Izuku turned the quirk off, grinning as he pulled out an empty notebook, grabbed a pencil, and started writing.

Name: Izuku Midoriya

Hero Name: ???

Quirk: Accumulator. An emitter quirk that allows the user to accept, store, and release energy through their body that acts like a general enhancer. The user currently has a cap of about 5% of his maximum energy output before getting backlash. Quirk backlash includes crippling pain once the user surpasses that threshold; physical consequences for continuing to use the quirk beyond that point are likely.

Additional Notes: Accumulator is a complete mutation that shows no resemblance to any of the quirks in Izuku Midoriya’s family tree. In addition to this, Accumulator requires that the user gain a certain muscle mass before its first activation. The current theory is that the amount of energy the user can channel would’ve been life-threatening without that limiter, hence why it activated so late in life.

Izuku grinned as he looked over his cover story, planning to submit it to the quirk registry as soon as possible. In the meantime…

“Mom! I’ve got something to tell you!”

-

The last three months before the entrance exam flew by. All Might rented a room at a quirk gym for him to train in --though All Might had to stay in his smaller form on the days that he supervised-- and while controlling his power flow wasn’t too difficult, it took a lot of trial and error for Izuku to get used to moving around with One for All activated.

Once he did get the hang of it, Izuku started bouncing around the walls of the quirk gym and practicing his reaction times, realizing that One for All lent itself to speed and agility just as much as it did to raw strength. To further distance himself from an obvious link to All Might, Izuku practiced attacking with kicks instead of punches. While it took a lot of effort for him to mesh Shoot Style with his Aikido training, Izuku blended the mobility required for both in a way that made it hard for opponents to guess whether he’d spin around and kick them with a quirk-powered blow or redirect their attacks with his hands while targeting their joints to immobilize them. 

By the time that February 26th rolled around --the day of the entrance exams-- Izuku felt more prepared for this than he ever could’ve dreamed of.  “You’re already a force to reckoned with, my boy! I have complete faith that you’ll pass this exam with flying colors, Plus Ultra style!!”

Izuku grinned as he walked toward the train station by All Might’s side. “You think so?” he asked with a tilted head.

“I know so! Have some confidence, young Midoriya. You’ve come far since I met you.”

“Thanks,” he murmured. Izuku hadn’t been able to completely silence the weird blend of genuine happiness and aching sadness that cropped up every time that All Might complimented him --said compliments tended to be linked to One for All in one way or another, even if it was something that Izuku didn’t need the quirk to figure out-- but that didn’t make him any less grateful for the advantages that All Might had given him. 

“I won’t let you down!”

Izuku was shaking with anticipation the entire train ride over to UA, and he nervously fidgeted with the yellow straps of his backpack as he approached the hero course examination site. He recognized uniforms from middle schools all over Japan --everywhere from Hokkaido to Kyushu-- as students just like him walked down the brick path and toward a test that would permanently alter their futures.

‘No pressure or anything.’

“What are you doing here, Deku?! Thought you were applying for support or some shit?”

Izuku turned to face Bakugo with a smirk as he said, “I only said that there were other courses at UA. I never said that I was applying for them.” Bakugo didn’t need to know that Izuku was applying to general education as a backup --while the general education program still wasn’t easy to get into, it was the only exam based solely on the basic written test; Izuku didn’t have the time to take the practical support exam or the second written management exam in addition to this one-- and Bakugo snarled at him as he walked around Izuku, shoulder checking him as he did so.

‘Hm. I hope that weird peace that’s been between us since the sludge villain doesn’t change because of this. Everyone has been leaving me alone for once.’ The footage that the news station aired didn’t mention his name or show his face, but people at their school recognized the gakuran. They also recognized the backpack and notebook that Izuku had dropped right before rushing out. They knew it was him. Even the teachers had started eyeing him warily any time that he took notes in the months afterward, and Izuku had been so wrapped up in his training plan that it took him ages to realize that they were afraid of him.

‘Honestly, did they think I was gonna go for their eyes next?’ he thought snarkily, freezing when he realized that they may have. Izuku shook it off and walked forward, so caught up in his musings that he didn’t notice a loose brick on the path. The tip of his shoe got caught underneath it, sending him pitching forward.

Izuku scrambled to get into a rolling position --it would still hurt to roll out of a fall on brick, but it would hurt less than falling outright-- but his stomach jerked as he floated upward instead. He looked over at a girl with brown hair and eyes, seeing that she had grabbed his backpack as he floated upward.

“Are you okay?”

He blushed and nodded before saying, “Yeah. Um, thank you!”

The girl guided him back to the ground before pressing her fingertips together, and Izuku could feel the weight of his backpack again afterward. ‘A gravity manipulation quirk? Those are pretty rare. And she not only floated my backpack but completely lifted me off the ground with it too! She must be able to control how much she affects something’s gravity.’

“I’m glad! It’s a bad omen to trip and fall, you know?” the girl said with a bright, sincere smile that Izuku was unused to seeing from people his age. His face only grew redder. “This is nerve-wracking, huh?”

“Yeah, it is,” he murmured. “Um... My name is Izuku Midoriya. Thank you again for catching me!”

“Ochako Uraraka! I better get going, but good luck!” 

Uraraka waved as she walked off, and Izuku smiled before saying, “Good luck to you too!” He walked forward, determined to do his best in the written exam.

‘If everyone at UA is even half as nice as her --except for Bakugo; I can’t even hope that he doesn’t get in-- then maybe I’ll make friends this year!’

-

After the written exam was over, Izuku made his way to the auditorium where everyone would be prepped for the heroics exam. He felt his soul briefly leave his body when he realized that he was stuck sitting right next to Bakugo, preemptively clamping his hand over his mouth to make sure that he wouldn’t piss the ticking time bomb off with his muttering.

“Welcome everybody!! Can I get a hey?!” Present Mic yelled. The auditorium was filled with students who were all a blend of terrified and determined, so despite the hero’s best efforts, silence was his only answer. “You’re all so refined! Cool, cool, so! I’m here to present the guidelines for your practical exam! Are you ready?!”

Silence once again. ‘I feel kinda bad for him right now. I’d answer if Bakugo wouldn’t ream me out for it.’

“Alright then, listeners. We’ll get right to it! The practical simulates cityscape maneuvers and lasts for ten minutes! You’re allowed to bring in whatever you want, and everyone will be directed to their assigned testing location afterward!!”

Izuku glanced down at the ID that he’d received from the school before looking over to Bakugo’s and smiling when he saw that they were being sent to different testing sites. ‘It’s probably to keep friends from middle school from helping each other, but they’ve saved my skin here.’

“Each site is swarming with three different types of faux villains,” Present Mic continued. “Points are awarded to test takers who defeat them! One-pointers are the easiest of the bunch, but you have to wreck a bunch of them for it to add up. Two-pointers are a good middle-ground opponent, but you’ll probably be competing against more people if you go after those. Three-pointers are the most powerful of the lot, so they’ll probably take longer to disable than the other two types.”

Present Mic laughs at the tense silence. “You’ve gotta take down the enemies while prioritizing what makes you shine best, listeners! Use your quirks to disable the villains and earn points; that’s your goal for today! Of course, attacking your fellow competitors is strictly forbidden and grounds for rejection from any course at UA, so keep that in mind.”

‘UA really is going to be good for me,’ he thought with a hum. Izuku looked over the handouts that they’d all been given, looking at the robot that was labeled as a zero-pointer. ‘These have to be some secret test. No one will want to waste time on them, so if they wind up being any kind of threat, then it’d be a good way to test for those who will help people in danger without any benefit to themselves…’ Izuku wasn’t sure if that was what the zero-pointers were for, but he also wouldn’t put it past UA to subtly look for things like that.

“May I ask a question?!” a voice cried out right before Present Mic could go to the next slide. It was like the entire auditorium turned toward the source of the voice at once, but the applicant remained undeterred, still standing as he waited for Present Mic’s response.

“Sure thing, listener!”

“There appear to be four different types of faux villains on this handout. Such a blatant error --assuming that it is one-- is incredibly unbecoming of a school as prestigious as UA!”

“Nice catch! To answer your question, Examine 7111, the fourth faux villain is exactly what it says on the tin. Defeating it doesn’t give you any points at all; it’s really more of an obstacle than anything else! There’ll only be one of them at each site, and they’ll rampage at close quarters.”

“Understood! So it’s like a gimmick to be avoided… Thank you, sir! I apologize for the interruption!”

“No worries at all,” Present Mic reassured the student. “Coincidentally, that’s all I’ve got for you today, listeners! I’ll leave you all with this piece of advice… As Napoleon Bonaparte once said, ‘True heroism consists in being superior to the ills of life, in whatever shape they may challenge us to combat.’ Go Plus Ultra! Best of luck to you all!”

‘Is that a hint? If I suspected that the zero-pointer was a test before now…’ Izuku grinned. ‘I’ll have to keep an eye out for it. Just in case.’

The students were all separated into groups before being led to buses, and Izuku’s face lit up when he saw a familiar face in the crowd of students. “Uraraka!”

She turned in his direction, looking confused for a brief moment before seeing him and smiling. “Midoriya! Looks like we’ll be taking the test together, huh?”

He nodded. “Talk about luck!” Izuku wanted to ask her something, but with the crowds around them… ‘Best to wait for a little bit longer.’ 

The two of them talked idly as they waited to board the bus, sitting together once they were let on. Izuku turned to Uraraka right away, eyes gleaming as he asked, “You’ve got a gravity manipulation quirk, right?” He made sure to keep his voice down --he didn’t want the others catching on to what they were doing-- but he couldn’t keep the grin off of his face if he tried.

“Yeah, I call it Zero Gravity. I take away an object’s gravitational pull by touching it with my fingertips. You figured that out just by seeing it once?” Uraraka glanced around as she said this, volume matching Izuku’s. The nervous chattering around them would’ve drowned out their voices anyway, but there was no harm in being cautious.

“Do you want to team up?” he whispered.

“Is that allowed?”

“There aren’t any rules against it. We’d have to make sure that we both took out robots --I’m not sure if our points would be split for working together or if we’ll only get credit for the ones we destroy ourselves-- but that won’t be an issue. We could definitely help each other.”

Uraraka hummed as she gave him an unexpectedly shrewd look. “How would we work together?”

“My quirk is called Accumulator. It’s an energy-based emitter quirk that acts as a general enhancer. I have to be careful not to use too much power, but…” Izuku met her eyes with determination lining his features. “I’m faster and stronger than most people. You need to get close to the robots to use your quirk, right?”

“Mhmn! Just as a warning, I get super nauseous if I float too much at once or if I float myself.”

“That’s not a problem!” he reassured her. “If I carry you around, then you’ll be able to get to the robots faster while watching my back and acting as an extra pair of eyes. It’ll also give you time to recover from the drawback of your quirk! If you start feeling sick, then we can switch over to me taking them down with kicks. We could both rack up points and keep each other from getting too worn out by going full-throttle the whole time. Besides…” 

Izuku gave her a savage grin before saying, “You heard Present Mic, right? Talking about battling life’s evils in multiple forms while also having an obstacle robot practically screams hidden test. Heroes aren’t just supposed to beat the bad guys; they’re supposed to save people. In the field, we’d need to work together for the greater good.”

“You think there might be extra points for doing something like this,” she gasped quietly.

Izuku nodded eagerly. “I can’t guarantee it, of course, but they set this up as a competition for a reason. How do you think we’ll look if we work together despite that?”

“Like heroes,” Uraraka answered him with a grin of her own. “Count me in! What’re you thinking?”

-

They spent the rest of the bus ride plotting together, laughing delightedly as they planned for increasingly absurd scenarios. Several applicants looked over at them uneasily, unable to hear what they were saying but fearing the aura that radiated out from them both.

Izuku and Uraraka stuck close to one another once they got off the bus, and as soon as everyone was off, the two of them walked as close to the gate as they could get. Izuku crouched down so that Uraraka could climb on, and she did so without hesitation. ‘We can’t be sure when the test will start, after all. Best not to waste precious seconds.’

The volume of whispers around them increased after Izuku stood back up, and outraged spluttering grew closer as the same student that had interrupted Present Mic approached them. “What on Earth are you two doing?! This is improper!  Are you not taking this exam seriously?”

Izuku was going to answer him, but a single finger lightly tapped on his left shoulder before he could. He looked up and at the direction that Uraraka silently indicated for him to, grinning when he saw a faint dot move on the giant podium that overlooked all the testing areas.

He remained silent, putting one foot in front of his other as he bent forward slightly. “Hold on, Uraraka,” he murmured. She nodded, lacing her hands together around his neck while holding her pinkies out.

“And… begin!!”

Izuku took off like a shot, green lightning arcing off him as he and Uraraka whizzed through the gates. A dozen robots were waiting for the applicants right at the front, and Izuku weaved between them all with a feral grin. Uraraka brushed her hand against five of the twelve, sweating slightly as they floated up. “Switch!”

He shifted stances to let him tear through the remaining seven robots with superpowered kicks. As soon as the robots on the ground were nothing but rubble he darted a safe distance away from the floating robots. Uraraka pressed her fingers together, letting them crash to the ground. The robots crumbled at the impact.

“Nine,” she hummed. “Not bad.”

“Fifteen. I’ll have to make sure you get a chance to let go of them sooner, sorry.” The two of them had agreed to count out loud so that they kept the points as even as they could. It’d be a bit harder to split them evenly when they came across clusters like this, but Izuku would just make sure that she got the next few stragglers to balance it out.

“It’s fine! Let’s go.”

“What’re you waiting for? Applicants 7159 and 7127 have the right idea! You don’t get countdowns in real life!” 

The rest of the applicants in their area finally came rushing out of the gates, snapping out of their shock at Present Mic’s words. Izuku and Uraraka were long gone by the time the rest of them ran through the piles of mangled robot parts.

Adrenaline rushed through Izuku’s veins as he rocketed through the air, leaping high enough that they got a good vantage point on the robots below them. He landed in front of a group of four three-pointers, dancing around the lasers and rubber bullets that targeted them as soon as they touched the ground. 

Uraraka got all four of the robots up into the air, and Izuku sprung back up to a nearby roof to get away from them. She released her quirk as soon as they were in the clear, shouting, “21!”

A group of two two-pointers and a three-pointer had Izuku saying, “22!” The two of them both took out several one-pointers when they come across a swarm of them --Izuku suspected that they were rising into the arena from this area; UA would run out of robots way too quickly if they didn’t keep adding them throughout the exam-- with Izuku and Uraraka both earning nine more points. They left the area after, wanting to go after robots with a higher individual value.

They landed on a nearby rooftop, nodding at an applicant with several arms that had ears on the end of them. ‘Looks like we’re not the only ones scouting.’ The applicant jumped down whenever he heard something, gliding on the skin that connected his arms. ‘Like a flying squirrel…’ A sharp tap on his right shoulder pulled Izuku out of his head, and he raced toward another group of robots.

Five three-pointers were harrying a blond guy with a laser quirk. A couple of them were sparking, but the other student’s quirk couldn’t stay active long enough to destroy the most durable robots in the exam. Uraraka tapped three of them before shouting, “Switch!” Izuku rushed in and kicked the other two, grabbing the blond before jumping away from the area so that Uraraka could drop the three she had floating.

“39 and an assist,” she whispered.

“37 and an assist,” he mumbled as he sat the laser guy down.

“Merci, mes amies! I’ll be sticking to the one and two-pointers from now on.” They both wished the guy luck as he ran off, taking to the skies again right afterward. They came back down when they saw a few applicants trapped under rubble and the remains of robots, and Uraraka briefly hopped down to float the debris up while Izuku lifted them and moved them into out-of-the-way buildings, one by one. 

“Only three minutes left, listeners!”

When Izuku regrouped with Uraraka, she was looking pale and shaky. He crouched down for her to climb on again, but this time she said, “I’m almost at my limit. You don’t have to keep carrying me around.”

“I’m not gonna leave you behind,” he said with a wide smile. “We’ve come this far together, right? I still need an extra set of eyes up there.”

“R-right!”

Once she was holding on again, Izuku leapt up to another rooftop. That was when the entire city started to tremble, and they both watched in horror as a giant robot destroyed entire skyscrapers as it walked down the street. ‘This is the zero-pointer?! Isn’t it a bit overkill? There’s gotta be more to it than an obstacle.’

“So, we’re definitely running toward that, right?”

Izuku nodded. “Robots can malfunction and it’s almost impossible to predict how rubble will fall. Someone could get buried, stepped on, or hit so hard that…” Well, Izuku knew why UA had parents sign consent forms now.

Uraraka’s grip on him tightened. “Then let’s do this.” 

The aftermath of what the zero-pointer had already destroyed was horrific. With everyone else running away from the robot, they had hope that the people running alongside them would help them if they stumbled. The people that were left behind needed their help more.

Uraraka had to lift the rubble off of someone who had their leg buried underneath it, and the unnatural angle that it was twisted at finally pushed her over the edge and had her hurling. “H-help me,” they begged, but Izuku knew that moving them would only risk hurting them worse.

“Uraraka, will you sit with them until the test is over? I don’t have anything for a splint. Last time I make that mistake…”

She nodded before saying, “Go! Make sure that no one else needs help.”

Izuku did just that, helping a couple of people with minor injuries get to more structurally sound areas. He was about to head back to Uraraka --time was almost up, after all-- but he heard a sharp gasp to his left and the groan of a building falling over. 

He darted forward, grabbed a tall boy with gravity-defying purple hair, and ran far away, only stopping once the sound of crashing ceased. “Are you alright?”

“Put me down! I’ve gotta… I’ve gotta get at least one point--”

“Time’s up!”

Present Mic’s words sealed all of their fates, and Izuku’s heart twisted as he put the boy down and listened to him cry. ‘This… this could’ve been me. If All Might hadn’t given me his quirk, then this would’ve been me. It’s not fair. I don’t want to just leave him…’ 

“Hey, it’ll be okay,” he murmured soothingly.

“Sure, for you,” the boy scoffed. “With a quirk like that, there’s no way you didn’t pass.”

“Did you apply for gen ed?”

“Yeah. I figured that this would be weighted toward flashy quirks. Should’ve figured that I couldn’t… My quirk has to be used on people, and it was against the rules. I couldn’t risk losing my backup plan. I couldn’t do anything.”

“Then don’t give up yet,” Izuku said with a smile. “People have transferred from gen ed before. It’s not fair that they test us this way, but that doesn’t mean that your dream is over. The Sports Festival is a great way to get their attention.”

“Why? Why are you telling me this?”

“You probably won’t believe me, but I could’ve been in your shoes,” Izuku said ruefully. “I was a late manifestation. Very late. I thought I was going to be taking this exam quirkless.”

“Oh…” The boy rubbed at the back of his neck sheepishly. “Sorry. I’m so used to people with quirks like yours just…”

“Acting like the sun shines out of their ass?” Izuku asked with a cocked eyebrow.

The boy snorted before saying, “Yeah, exactly. I guess you’ve probably been on the other end of that too, huh?”

‘Oh, you have no idea.’

“Name’s Hitoshi Shinsou. Thanks. For the save and the advice.”

“I’m Izuku Midoriya, and it’s no problem,” he said with a bitter smile. “Us underdogs have to look out for each other, after all.”

Chapter Text

Izuku was delighted when he exchanged numbers with both Shinsou and Uraraka, thrumming with excitement and satisfaction the entire walk home. ‘I think that I should barely squeak into the hero course with 37 points, even if there isn’t a secret scoring system. The written exam was easy, so if all else fails, then I’ll just start in gen ed with Shinsou. I hope that I don’t have to do that, though. It’d make it a lot harder for him to transfer.’

Inko was waiting for him when he got home, standing in front of the stovetop as she worked away. “Oh, Izuku! Welcome home. Dinner’ll be done in just a bit.”

“I appreciate it, but wasn’t it my turn to cook tonight? You should rest! I can finish the rest of it.”

“None of that,” Inko scoffed. “You’re not cooking your celebratory dinner. That defeats the purpose!”

“Celebratory…?”

“Don’t sound so unsure of yourself, Izuku.” Inko looked at him from over her shoulder, smiling as she said, “You’ve always been my little hero. There’s not a doubt in my mind that you passed.”

Tears welled up in Izuku’s eyes, and Inko’s smile morphed into a small, bitter thing that Izuku often saw in the mirror. “Is… is this because I have a quirk now?” Izuku didn’t mean to ask it, but the question slipped out of him anyway. His mother looked devastated. 

“Oh, baby, no. I always knew you’d make a brilliant hero, and I knew that you’d get into UA too. It’s why I’ve been putting your father’s child support payments away for your tuition. I just… I didn’t want you to be crushed if you didn’t get into their hero course. I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but before you told me about Accumulator, I was compiling research on vigilantes. Since quirk usage laws didn’t apply to you, I was thinking that you couldn’t be charged for vigilantism either…”

“You were going to encourage me to be an illegal hero?” Izuku hadn’t considered that option before now, but the irony of his mother helping him find legal loopholes wasn’t lost on him.

“I was going to encourage you to chase your dreams,” Inko said firmly. “I didn’t want to see you give up, Izuku. You were made to help people, and I’ve had nightmares of you losing that spark in your eyes. I just got so fixated on trying to prevent a future hurt that I didn’t see that you were already hurting.” She turned the heat off on the stove before walking over to hug him, tears running down her face.

“I’m sorry that I wasn’t a better mother. I should’ve made it clear that I supported you from the beginning instead of getting caught up in my fears. I won’t let it happen again. I’m supporting you 100%, okay? So just promise me that you won’t forget to take care of yourself too.”

Izuku sniffled as he nodded, bending down so he could bury his head in Inko’s shoulder. “I promise, Mom. It’s like you always said--”

“You have to save yourself before you can save others,” they said in sync. Mother and son devolved into watery giggles. 

Inko patted his shoulder softly before pulling back and saying, “Now go sit down! You can tell me all about the exam once the food’s on the table.”

“Okay, okay!” Izuku couldn’t keep the smile off his face if he tried. It had always been his mother and him against the world, and even after getting One for All, Izuku had worried that her desire to protect him might strain their relationship.

And while it didn’t completely erase the old hurts and misunderstandings between them, Izuku could feel the balm of his mother’s apology and promise for ongoing support soothing his heart. As the two of them smiled and laughed over pork katsudon, Izuku could only feel grateful for having someone who was truly in his corner.

It was almost a relief that All Might wouldn’t be texting him until after the results came out. Izuku didn’t want to risk losing this peace.

-

Izuku was pretty confident that he’d gotten in --he’d done the math over and over just to be sure-- but waiting for the results still felt like torture. He and Shinsou sent each other floods of cat memes and jokes, and when Shinsou asked him how he trained for the exam before his quirk came in, Izuku started sending him workout tips. They hadn’t met up since the entrance exam, but Izuku knew that he could consider Shinsou a friend now.

Uraraka, on the other hand, wound up visiting a couple of days after the exam. His mother insisted that she needed to meet the friend that partnered up with Izuku, so Uraraka came over to eat lunch with them. The three of them talked about hero costumes and how Izuku and Uraraka could use their quirks together, and when Uraraka had shakily asked Inko how she could be sure that Uraraka got in, Inko had told her that there wasn’t a doubt in her mind that they’d both crushed it. 

They quickly learned that Uraraka was a crier too.

A week after the entrance exam, the letter from UA finally came. Izuku was finishing up his daily stretches when Inko knocked on the door to his room, saying, “Izuku, the letter’s here! It feels like there’s more than a letter, though.”

“I’ll be out in just a second!” After cooling down, Izuku opened his door, smiling as his mother all but shoved the envelope at him. ‘Huh, it’s oddly heavy. What did they put in this thing?’ Izuku hummed before walking over to his desk and sitting down, fidgeting with the edge of the envelope anxiously.

“Do you want to open it privately, Izuku?” He turned back to face Inko and shook his head. She walked into his room with a gentle smile, resting her hand on his shoulder as she said, “I’m proud of you no matter what, okay? But you don’t have to be nervous. You’ve got this.”

“Right…” Izuku tore open the envelope, blinking in surprise when a metal disk fell out of it. He poked a small button that was on the front of it, and a holographic projection of All Might flared to life.

‘What?! This is from UA, so why is All Might…?’

“This is a projection!” the holograph All Might cried out, breaking the stunned silence that both Izuku and his mother had fallen into.

“Either they asked him to do the projections since he was in town anyway or…” Inko’s voice trailed off, and Izuku realized what she was insinuating a few seconds later.

“I’m in town for one reason only! I’ve come to teach at UA.” 

Izuku found himself feeling conflicted about that information. On one hand, it’d be nice to have someone at the school that knew the truth of One for All, but on the other hand, All Might had proven that he wasn’t the best teacher. Izuku’s progress had been made almost completely on his own.

“It doesn’t seem very smart of them to announce that. It’ll get out before long, and having All Might at UA will make everyone there a target,” his mother muttered, eyebrows furrowed. “It is UA, though, I guess it’ll be fine.”

“Young Midoriya! You passed the written exam with flying colors, earning 97 out of 100 points.” Izuku blinked. ‘Really? I thought I got closer to a 93…’

“That’s my baby.” Izuku blushed at his mother’s words, thankful that the projection started talking again right after.

“You also earned 37 villain points! That alone would be just enough to get you into the hero course, however… There was more to the test than that! Look at the screen for just a moment!” All Might’s holographic form pointed to a blank screen in the room he was standing in. Video footage of Izuku leaping around with Uraraka showed up on the screen, the two of them stopping to help others along the way, both before and after the zero-pointer was released.

“We’ve never seen such a collaborative effort between two applicants before! You and young Uraraka not only worked together to take down more robots than you would have alone, but you also worked together to save your fellow applicants whenever they got themselves into trouble. What kind of hero school would we be if we didn’t reward that heroic behavior?!”

‘I knew it!’ 

“There were also rescue points! With the combination of your save of young Aoyama, relocating injured applicants, and your actions regarding the zero-pointer, you earned 59 rescue points, Izuku Midoriya! Ochako Uraraka was shortly behind you with 54 rescue points.”

The screen changed from the paused video of him and Uraraka, showing the overall results. Izuku gaped when he saw that he was at the very top.

“Congratulations, young Midoriya! We all look forward to seeing what you can do!”

The projection fizzled out now. Izuku stood up, trembling with shock as he turned to face his mother. “I’m at the top. Mom, did you see that? 96 points! And Uraraka was only three lower! We both beat Bakugo!”

Tears welled up in two identical pairs of green eyes. “I’m so proud of you, Izuku. You’re going to do amazing things.”

-

The night after he received his acceptance letter, Izuku went to meet up with All Might at Takoba Beach. 

“Congrats on passing, kid. You really impressed everyone.” Izuku blinked at the absurdity of All Might offering him a high five before shrugging and slapping their hands together. “I wanted to tell you that UA doesn’t know I taught you. You seem like the type to be worried about favoritism.”

‘That’s good to know, but I wasn’t worried about that. If nepotism had any influence on my score, then Uraraka wouldn’t have been right behind me.’ 

“So, you’re teaching at UA this year? I was surprised to hear that! I guess that explains why we always meet here or at the local quirk gym even though your agency is in Tokyo’s Minato ward--”

“You’re muttering again, young Midoriya.” Izuku blushed and clapped one of his hands over his mouth. 

“Sorry that I didn’t tell you sooner; I couldn’t tell anyone until the school made it public knowledge. I initially intended to search for my successor at UA, but…” All Might ruffled Izuku’s hair, a warm smile on his face. “I couldn’t have chosen better than you, my boy. I’ll just be there to watch your progress now.”

“Um… about that.” Izuku pressed the tips of his fingers together nervously. “I don’t mean to question someone like Nezu, but are you sure it was smart to announce that you were working at UA? Mom is super worried about that making students a target, and you could’ve always taught in this form--”

All Might laughed as he patted the top of Izuku’s head as he said, “You worry far too much, young Midoriya. Everything will be All Might!” Izuku groaned at the horrible joke, darting away from the hand that felt a touch too patronizing for his liking.

‘It’s a valid concern. Hero students and freshly graduated heroes are already targeted at higher rates than most pros. With the Symbol of Peace and hero students in the same place… I’d be more surprised if we don’t get attacked.’

“I can practically see your brain smoking. Seriously, kid, UA’s security is top-notch. There’s nothing to worry about!”

Izuku laughed uneasily as he nodded along. ‘I hope you’re right about that, for both of our sakes. You’ve already been working yourself into the grave; I don’t want to see someone shove you in it while you’re not looking.’

A few days after that, Izuku and Bakugo were both called into the principal's office. Izuku knew he was screwed as soon as that announcement was made, and after they were commended for their accomplishment --as if they hadn’t already written Izuku off years ago-- Bakugo took the opportunity to corner Izuku outside of the school building.

“I don’t know how you fucking conned your way into the hero course, but you’d better withdraw, Deku. They’ll find out that you’re a useless, quirkless runt before long; you may as well save them the trouble of expelling you.” Bakugo snarled as he grabbed Izuku and shoved him against the wall.

“I don’t know whether to be flattered that you think I could trick someone as intelligent as Nezu into giving me first place or insulted that you still see me as the shit beneath your shoe after I beat you. If I’m truly such a lowly creature, then what does that make you?” Izuku couldn’t keep the rage out of his voice, and Bakugo was stunned by it, releasing him as he stepped back.

“That’s… I was supposed to be the only one! You ruined my perfect origin story!”

“I did no such thing. You were the one who chose to stay in the worst school in the district just so that you could brag about coming from nothing. You had opportunities that most people could only dream of, Bakugo, and you squandered them. The fault rests on your shoulders alone.”

“... Bakugo? Since when did you call me that?”

“You didn’t even notice, did you? I haven’t called you by that stupid nickname since we were seven. We’re not friends,” Izuku said with a scoff. He pushed himself off the wall, dodging out of the way when Bakugo lunged at him with explosions crackling in his hands. Izuku grabbed Bakugo’s wrist and twisted it, just on the edge of breaking it, as he said, “I won’t be pushed around by you anymore. You and I both know that you don’t deserve to be a hero. Getting into UA… My word won’t mean nothing anymore. Unless you want me to start telling people about who Katsuki Bakugo really is, you’ll leave me alone.”

When Izuku left Bakugo behind, his bully was pale-faced and shaking. He hated himself just a little bit for how satisfied he was with that outcome.

-

Izuku spent the rest of his time before attending UA preparing for his future. He and his mother sat down together as he sketched his and Uraraka’s hero costumes, working together to make sure that they’d have everything that they needed to stay safe. He was pretty happy with the finished products, but they’d have to see how the real things turned out before deciding if any tweaks needed to be made.

His first day at UA was here before he knew it.

“Izuku! Did you grab your extra notebook?!”

“Yeah, I’ve got it!”

“Your pocket tissues?!”

“Yep!” Izuku said with a laugh, bending down to tie his shoes in front of the door. “I’ve gotta get going; I can’t afford to be late--”

“I know, I know! Just face me really quick.” Izuku did so, blushing when his mother sighed. “Come here. Let me fix your tie.”

He did so sheepishly, thanking her once it was straightened out. “There you go! Now you look ready. Go show them what you're made of, Izuku!”

“I will. Thanks, Mom! Have a good day at work.”

Izuku took off, catching the train and being congratulated by a few strangers here and there who wished him luck at UA. It was honestly surreal. He shook it off once he got to his stop, heading off with a determined smile and swiping his student ID card to enter the school grounds. 

‘I’m really here. Now I’ve just gotta find 1-A…’ Izuku was glad that he and Uraraka wound up in the same class, and he was hoping beyond all hope that Bakugo was in 1-B. However, once he stood outside the door of the classroom and heard familiar shouting, that hope was dashed.

‘May as well get this over with,’ he thought with a sigh as he opened the door.

“Remove your foot from that desk at once! Your actions are an insult to our upperclassmen and the crafters who made that desk!” Izuku almost groaned out loud when he realized that the blue-haired guy that yelled at him and Uraraka was in his class too.

“Why would I care?! What middle school are you from, extra?” Bakugo asked with a sneer.

“I’m from Somei Private Academy! My name is Tenya Iida.” 

“Somei?! I knew you were some stuck-up elitist. I should blow you to bits!” 

‘You, of all people, can’t talk about being an elitist, Bakugo.’ Iida looked appalled by Bakugo’s… everything, and even though they’d started off on the wrong foot, Izuku felt for the guy. Bakugo’s aggression was unsettling.

“How awful! Do you truly wish to become a hero?!”

Seeing that this altercation wasn’t going to be over any time soon, Izuku stepped into the classroom. He walked over to read the seating chart on their teacher’s desk, saw that he was right behind Bakugo, and resigned himself to his fate.

Iida rushed over to him before he could take his seat. “I’m from Somei--”

“Ah, I heard you before. It’s nice to meet you, Iida. I’m Izuku Midoriya.”

“Midoriya... You and Uraraka perceived the true nature of the practical exam while I did not. You were clearly the superior candidates, and I apologize for misjudging you both!” he said as he bowed at a ninety-degree angle.

Izuku blushed, waving frantically while saying, “There’s no need for any of that, honest!” Iida straightened up --obviously relieved-- as Izuku finally sat down. He was glad that Bakugo only growled under his breath when he did so. ‘It’s not going to be pretty when that tension explodes. I’m not expecting him to leave me be for long.’

“Midoriya!”

Uraraka’s voice was a breath of fresh air that Izuku desperately clung to. “Uraraka! It’s good to see you again.” He distantly registered that she looked super cute in UA’s uniform before shoving that thought deep, deep down. 

She walked over to his desk, beaming as she said, “I’m so glad that we teamed up. My parents are still going crazy about me getting second. They live out in the sticks, but they want to meet you and Mama Midoriya when they get the chance!”

“That’d be nice,” he said, pausing when he realized something. “They? Don’t you live with them?”

Uraraka shook her head. “Nope. The commute would be too long if I did, so I got an apartment in Musutafu.”

“Huh… Well, let me know if you need any help; Mom and I know the area pretty well.”

“Will do!”

“If you’re only here to socialize, then you may as well pack your bags now,” a voice deadpanned from the door. Izuku turned to see a man laying on the floor in a yellow sleeping bag, drinking from one of those meal substitute pouches.

The room went dead quiet, and Uraraka awkwardly shuffled over to her seat, prompting anyone else who was standing to do the same. The man walked into the classroom, grumbling as he said, “It took you all eight seconds to settle down. Time is a precious resource; you’ll learn not to waste it soon.”

‘Where have I seen him before? He has to be some sort of pro, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.’ 

“I’m your homeroom teacher, Shouta Aizawa. Now--” Aizawa reached into his sleeping bag, pulling out several gym uniforms and dropping them at the desk of whoever they belonged to. “Go get changed into your gym clothes and head out to the grounds, all of you. Be quick about it.”

They all rushed to do just that, and Izuku was one of the first out on the field. Uraraka gravitated toward him, mumbling as she said, “I’m guessing that we’re not going to the entrance ceremony or the guidance sessions.”

“Probably not,” he whispered in return. “I’m guessing he wants to throw us in the deep end and see if we swim.” Determination lined both of their faces, and they silently agreed to help each other out however they could. They’d worked too hard to back down now.

“You’ll be taking a quirk apprehension test today,” Aizawa stated once the rest of their classmates joined them, and Izuku’s eyes lit up when he finally realized who he was. ‘Eraserhead, of course! That capture weapon of his was what I was remembering. It makes sense that he’d teach people how to use their quirks. I wonder if he’ll be trying to throw people off throughout the test by using Erasure on them?’

A hand raised, and Aizawa grunted as he asked, “What is it, Yaoyorozu?”

“Will we not be attending the entrance ceremony? Meetings with the guidance counselor were scheduled for today as well…”

“We don’t have time to waste on that sort of bureaucratic nonsense, not if you want to become heroes.”

Izuku grimaced at that. ‘I understand the entrance ceremony, but talking to the guidance counselor is kinda important. Heroes need a support system.’

“UA is known for its freestyle teaching system. Teachers can do whatever they want as long as they produce results.

‘Hello, paranoia, my old friend. Guess I’ll have to feel out all of the teachers here too.’ That sort of blanket permission sounded like an abuse of power just waiting to happen, and while Izuku trusted heroes, he did not trust teachers. ‘All Might is proof enough that good heroes don’t necessarily make good teachers.’

“Softball throwing, the standing long jump, the 50-meter dash, endurance running, grip strength, side-to-side stepping, sit-ups, and the seated toe touch… You’ve all done these tests before during middle school, correct?”

Everyone nodded. ‘So that’s what we’re doing.’

“The Department of Education still prohibits the use of quirks while calculating those averages. They’re just delaying the inevitable; it’s not rational.”

‘Yeah… Even when I did well in gym class, all the other kids would immediately say that it was only because they couldn’t use their quirks. It would’ve been better if I beat them at their best. Then again, that might’ve just gotten me beat up more.’

“Midoriya, how far could you throw in middle school?”

Izuku jolted out of his thoughts, stammering as he said, “Um, 52 meters.”

Aizawa gestured for Izuku to stand in the middle of the pitching circle, and Izuku moved to do so, catching the ball when Aizawa tossed it his way. “Good. Now try it with your quirk. Do whatever you want; just don’t leave the circle.”

Izuku’s eyes narrowed at the way Aizawa worded that. “Whatever I want?” ‘There’s no way that’s not a loophole. He all but said it.’

“Give it all you’ve got,” he said, neither confirming nor denying. That was answer enough for Izuku.

“Uraraka, I’ll help you with the 50-meter dash if you help me here!” Their class cried out in outrage as Uraraka walked over with a grin to do just that.

“Is this even allowed?!” Iida demanded, chopping his arms down violently.

“Knowing what situations an ally is more useful in than you is important to hero work. Reckless heroes who think that they can do everything alone only get people killed.”

A hush fell over them all at that, and Uraraka tapped the ball with all five fingers before running out of the circle. Izuku took a deep breath before allowing green lightning to flicker over his form, and though he could hear Bakugo scream, Izuku ignored that to launch the ball forward. It traveled several hundred meters before it started floating up, and Uraraka kept her quirk activated until Aizawa’s scanner dinged.

He spun it around to show them all an infinity sign. “It’s important for heroes to know their limits. Midoriya would’ve gotten a good score on his own, but he got an amazing score because he knew when to step back. Identifying your limits is the first step to discovering what kind of heroes you’ll become.”

“What the hell?! Explain yourself, Deku!” Bakugo blasted forward with every intention to attack him, but before Izuku could leap back, Bakugo was wrapped up in Aizawa’s scar. The explosions fizzled out, and Izuku sighed in relief.

“What the--? This cloth is so stiff!”

“It’s a capture weapon made of carbon fibers and a special alloy wire. Now quit using your quirk already; my eyes are getting dry!” After a few more moments of struggling, Bakugo went limp. Aizawa let him go, sighing as he said, “What a waste of time. Come on, the demonstration is over.”

“Woah, this is gonna be awesome!”

“We really get to use our quirks, huh?! The hero course is so cool!”

“Awesome, you say?” Izuku gulped at Aizawa’s tone of voice, quickly scurrying over to rejoin the class. “You’re all hoping to become heroes after three years here, and you think that it’ll be fun and games? Well then, it’s time to give you a dose of reality. The student with the lowest scores across all eight events will be judged hopeless and expelled.”

“What?!”

Izuku looked over to Uraraka before saying, “So, wanna team up again?”

“Team Usagi is a go. I’ll also help with the standing long jump. Can you help with the endurance run?”

“Sounds good to me.”

“Your fates are in our hands,” Aizawa said as soon as the class quieted down. “Welcome to UA’s hero course.”

“That’s not fair! It’s only our first day. How are we supposed to prove ourselves to you if you don’t give us a chance?!” an invisible girl cried out, and Izuku grimaced at the fear in her voice. ‘I can’t imagine that her quirk will be super helpful here. Maybe I could...’

“Life isn’t fair, Hagakure. Natural disasters, highway pileups, rampaging villains… Japan is full of unfair things. It’s a hero’s job to correct that unfairness.” Hagakure shrunk down, and Izuku tapped Uraraka’s shoulder before jerking his head over at her. Uraraka nodded.

“If you were hoping to spend your weekends lounging around with friends, then I’m sorry to tell you that you’ll be doing no such thing. For the next three years, UA is going to be running you through the wringer. This is what it means to be Plus Ultra.”

The entire class moved over to where they were doing the 50-meter dash, and Izuku and Uraraka walked over to Hagakure. She was shaking like a leaf, clearly panicking, so Izuku gentled his voice and said, “Um, Hagakure?”

She squeaked before whipping over to face the two of them. “Oh, it’s you. What is it?”

“We were wondering if you wanted to work with us.”

“W-what? But someone is gonna be expelled! I can’t help you guys, so wouldn’t it be more heroic to not drag you down?”

Izuku shook his head firmly. “Hagakure, your quirk is amazing for heroics. You could specialize in infiltration and informatics, getting in and out of places without even being seen. We’d be doing the world a disservice if we let you take the fall on a biased test.”

“Exactly!” Uraraka said with a sunny smile. “There’s no reason not to help you when we can!”

Hagakure sniffled. “Thank you! Thank you so much!”

“Yes!” Uraraka cheered. “Team Man in the Moon is a go!”

“How’d you get that team name?” Izuku asked with a snort.

Uraraka pointed to Hagakure, herself, and Izuku and said, “Team Invisible Space Man aka Team Man in the Moon.”

They all burst into laughter, watching as Iida and a girl with a frog quirk ran the 50-meter dash, and when Aizawa called Uraraka over for her turn Izuku jogged over alongside her. Aizawa sighed when he saw them both standing by the starting line. “Are you two planning on being a hero duo or something?”

“We want to form a hero team!” Izuku said with a grin. He had thought about his role as the next holder of One for All for a long time, and this was the best thing that he could come up with. All Might had done a lot as the Symbol of Peace, but now everyone was dependent on one person. They all believed that All Might would save them no matter what. Izuku didn’t want to continue that pattern.

‘No matter how powerful One for All is, I’m still only one person. I can’t be everywhere at once, and even All Might started to crumble under the pressure eventually. What else can you call working long beyond when you should’ve retired? It’ll be better to share that burden with several people I can trust, and it’ll also lessen the impact of any of us needing to step back for a little while. I don’t want people to panic because I got sick or injured. Maybe we’ll be able to destroy the preconceived notion that only weak people who couldn’t make it as heroes alone form teams while we’re at it.’

“Fine. As long as you still use your quirk somehow, then I don’t care what you do.” They both grinned, and Uraraka lightened the gravity on her gym clothes and shoes before hopping on Izuku’s back. They nodded to their tailed classmate, got ready, and took off as soon as the buzzer sounded.

“4.26 seconds!”

They walked back over to Hagakure with huge grins, watching as the boy with the laser quirk raced against a girl who skated across the track on acid. Izuku was up next --running next to Bakugo, just his luck-- but he was incredibly pleased with himself when he crossed the finish line before Bakugo did.

“3.74 seconds!”

Bakugo screamed when the device cheerily said, “4.13 seconds!” Izuku just ran back to the start of the line, holding Hagakure up --who couldn’t turn off her quirk, so it counted as her using it-- and racing against a boy with hair that was white on one side and red on the other.

The boy iced both lanes of the track before taking off, so Izuku wound up leaping over the entire thing, apologizing to Hagakure when the device said, “4.79 seconds!”

“It’s totally alright Midoriya! I would’ve been screwed trying to run on ice.”

Izuku looked over to see the boy looking at them oddly, and Izuku tilted his head in question. His classmate averted his eyes before rejoining the class. ‘What was that about?’

Shortly after that, everyone moved on to the grip strength test. There was no real way to help each other here, but when Izuku powered up and got a score of 300 pounds, he was proud of it. His multi-armed classmate --now that Izuku thought about it, there seemed to be a lot of people from his testing area in his class-- got a mindblowing score of 1190 pounds, and while Yaoyorozu and a boy who got stronger after eating sugar got higher scores than Izuku, no one else did.

The standing long jump came after, and with the assistance of Uraraka, he flew over the sandpit entirely. She did the same thing to him when it was her turn, knowing that it was better for him to get them both across the pit instead of making herself sick trying to negate her gravity. He barely cleared the pit while holding her, but it was still a good score. Izuku got the same distance that he did alone when Uraraka negated both his and Hagakure’s weight.

Side-stepping was another thing that they couldn’t help each other with, and Izuku was surprised to see that the short boy that had purple balls for hair excelled here. ‘That’d probably be impressively smart if it wasn’t coming from him,’ Izuku thought, grimacing as said classmate immediately tried to hit on Yaoyorozu after doing well.

The softball throw was after, and Izuku got to sit this event out after his earlier demonstration. Uraraka earned a score of infinity for herself, Hagakure, and, surprisingly, a classmate who introduced herself as Kyouka Jirou and asked Uraraka if she’d help. Uraraka hadn’t even hesitated to say yes.

They did the seated toe-touch after, and Izuku grumbled when he realized that he wasn’t as flexible as he used to be. ‘I guess that’s unavoidable after bulking up like that, but still… I’ll work on getting that flexibility back.’

On the other hand, Izuku excelled with the sit-ups, going until Aizawa sighed and marked him down as infinity just so they could get on with the last test. 

‘It was smart to save the endurance run for last. Everyone is getting worn out and won’t be able to go as long as they would otherwise.’ Izuku had far longer days hauling trash on the beach, though, and those days were more labor-intensive too. He didn’t struggle at all as he picked Hagakure up in a bridal carry --after asking her if it was okay, of course-- and Uraraka climbed up on his back.

“W-what kind of monster is he?” stammered a blonde with a black lightning bolt in his hair. “He can’t run like that, right?”

“So manly,” a redhead with a hardening quirk cheered. “You go, man!”

The buzzer sounded, and while it took a second for him to find his stride --it was a bit awkward to run while carrying two people-- this wasn’t a race to see who ran the fastest. It was a race to see who ran the longest. Yaoyorozu had already sealed her victory when she pulled out a motorcycle, but Izuku kept going long after most of his classmates had dropped out. By the time that he let Uraraka and Hagakure down so that they could keep running on their own, only Iida and Yaoyorozu were still going. 

Everyone had recovered a bit by the time that Yaoyorozu’s motorcycle ran out of fuel, looking up at Aizawa with determination as he pulled out a holographic projector. “Moving along then. It’s time for your results. Also, I was lying about expelling someone.” 

His shortest classmate burst into relieved tears, and Izuku couldn’t help finding himself a bit disappointed by that outcome. 

“It was a logical ruse meant to bring out the best in all of you.”

“What?!”

“Of course it was a lie,” Yaoyorozu said, looking at their screaming classmates with concern. “It didn’t take much to figure that out.”

‘No, I don’t think it was. From what I know about him, Eraserhead has no tolerance for incompetence. He saw something in all of us.’

The hologram sprung to life, and Izuku quickly made note of his classmates' names as he read up the list. ‘Kyouka got fourteenth, Hagakure got fourth, Uraraka got third, and… I got second?! No one was going to beat Yaoyorozu! Holy crap... Todoroki got fifth, so Bakugo was edged all the way down to sixth.’

“Anyway, we’re done here. Documents with everything you need to know about the curriculum are back in the classroom.”

The rest of the school day was blissfully ordinary, only involving getting syllabi from their teachers, doing some basic introductions, and preparing to start the real work tomorrow. Once the final bell rang, Izuku walked out of it while talking with Iida, Uraraka, and Hagakure.

“I can’t believe how Aizawa-sensei fooled us!” Iida cried out. “He made me think ‘this is just how it is at the top’, but I guess that was another test, huh? I failed to see through it again, and your scores showcased exactly how important it is for heroes to cooperate with each other!”

‘I thought that he was a jerk, but he’s just super uptight, huh?’ Izuku laughed, saying, “Well, I just tried to treat it like we were on the field, you know? Heroes compete against each other to earn their rankings just like we were competing against each other to earn our place in class, but they still have to work together.”

“I see,” Iida hummed. “Still, that was clever of you.”

“You both made it a lot less scary, so thank you!” Hagakure exclaimed. “I owe you both big time”

Uraraka shook her head immediately. “You don’t owe us at all. We’re classmates; of course we’re gonna work together!”

“Are you all heading to the train station?” Izuku blinked, looking back to see Shinsou waving at him.

“Shinsou! Yeah, we are. How was your first day?”

“It was fine. Mind if I walk with you?”

“We don’t mind at all!” Uraraka cheered. “A friend of Midoriya’s is a friend of mine. I’m Ochako Uraraka.”

Everyone introduced themselves to Shinsou --who sheepishly did the same in return, seeming surprised by the positive attention-- as they left the school building.

“So, Shinsou, what course are you in?” Hagakure asked.

“Gen ed, for now. I’m gunning for a spot in heroics though.”

“Oh? I wasn’t aware that you could transfer,” Iida murmured.

Shinsou looked a bit defensive, so Izuku smoothly interjected by saying, “It’s not common, but it has happened! They usually scout out talent that slipped through the cracks during the Sports Festival. Shinsou has plenty of that.”

While his friend hadn’t trained nearly enough before now, Izuku was working on rectifying that. Brainwashing was an incredibly powerful quirk, but Shinsou’s determination to prove that it wasn’t a villain’s quirk left him fixating on it and leaving everything else behind. ‘Then again, most people seem to train their quirks to the exclusion of all else.’

Shinsou had finally told Izuku about his quirk about a week ago. He’d asked about Izuku’s experience with school before UA, and when he realized just how badly quirkless people were treated, he shared his own experience as someone with a “villainous” quirk. Naturally, that snowballed into discussing specifics. ‘I’m glad that he’s warmed up a bit. He seemed afraid that I’d ditch him the second he told me about his quirk.’

Uraraka beamed before saying, “Then I look forward to seeing what you can do, Shinsou.”

As Izuku boarded the train with all four of his friends, one thought ran through his head. ‘This… this never would’ve been possible without One for All.’ 

He didn’t know how to feel about that.

Chapter Text

Izuku’s entire class was buzzing with excited energy as they waited for All Might to join them for Foundational Hero Studies. ‘I wonder what we’re going to do today? Considering that All Might wanted me to go all out with One for All at first instead of gradually getting used to it…’ He had a feeling that they’d be jumping right into things.

“I am… coming through the door like a normal person!!” All Might cheered as he popped in, hands on either side of the doorframe. His classmates started whispering in awe, and Izuku hummed idly as he took in All Might’s costume.

‘He’s going for nostalgia, huh? It’s been a while since he wore his Silver Age costume.’

“Foundational Hero Studies is the class that’ll put you through all sorts of special training to mold you into heroes! Let’s jump right into it, shall we?!”

The class cheered as All Might held up a card with the word battle blazoned across the front. “Today’s activity is battle training, and for that, you’ll need these!” All Might spread his arms wide as he clicked a remote. The wall to the class’s left rumbled as several secret compartments revealed themselves, showcasing twenty numbered cases. “In accordance with the quirk registry and the special request forms that you filled out before classes started… your costumes!”

The entire class jumped to their feet in excitement, and Izuku wasn’t ashamed to be one of them. ‘This is the real deal! I’ve been so excited to see what my costume would look like in person.’

“After you change, come out to Ground Beta!”

Izuku grabbed the case with the number eighteen on it, rushed to the changing rooms, and locked himself in a stall while they were still available. He opened his case and grinned at what he saw. ‘I was worried that they might change it, but it looks like they stuck pretty closely to the design I had in mind.’

The first thing that he put on was the base of his costume: a forest green jumpsuit made out of kevlar. He checked it over, lightly rubbing his thumb over the golden scales that were displayed on the side of each shoulder and looking at the hood before putting it on. It fit perfectly, and Izuku was immensely pleased to see that they kept the lop-eared look he wanted. 

His costume was accented with a bright red belt that had built-in pouches for carrying first aid supplies, future identification, and anything else that Izuku might need. His darker red gloves --he and his mother had been worried about blood showing on them if anything ever happened-- with golden accents went on next, and they were also made out of kevlar. ‘I may as well take advantage of the fact that UA makes these, right? Better to have stab-proof, bullet-proof, flame-resistant material that protects me since I can.’ Bright red boots were put on next, reinforced with black, detachable iron soles that would give his kicks some extra power alongside protecting his feet more efficiently. A note attached to said soles indicated that this was the work of a first-year support student, telling him to come in if any adjustments needed to be made.

‘How did a new support student make this before our second day? They’re someone to talk to. I’ll have to go thank them at some point.’

A pair of bright red goggles with slightly tinted, shatterproof lenses were picked up next, and they were designed to protect his eyes from the wind, enemies, and any debris. There were two dials --one on the left and one on the right-- that let Izuku activate thermal and x-ray vision, and he was especially happy about the fact that a quick test confirmed that he could use both at once.

Finally, Izuku grabbed his gas-filtering mask with a built-in communication system --including an earpiece that he put in right away-- and rebreather, gasping when he saw the amount of detail that the support department included. There were red, glowing dots for a nose and freckles, and a thin red line connecting the rabbit-styled nose to a grin modeled after All Might’s smile, if a bit more sinister looking. The rabbit details helped keep the mask from being so scary that it scared civilians, but it would serve to intimidate villains too. Izuku put it on and pulled up his hood before stepping out of the stall, rushing out to join the rest of the class at Ground Beta.

Izuku’s eyes darted from classmate to classmate as he took in their costumes --some good, some not-- as he jogged over to Uraraka. “Shall we begin, my wards?! It’s time for battle training!” All Might called out, and the class straightened up with determination. 

Uraraka beamed at Izuku as she said, “Looking good! Super practical, as expected from you. Thank you for sketching my costume out for me; I really like how it looks!”

Her costume was a pale pink --one so light that it looked white-- jumpsuit with black and rose accents that was modeled after a spacesuit. Izuku had warned her ahead of time that the hero industry liked to put female heroes into bodysuits if they didn’t specifically say that they didn't want them, so Uraraka had requested something loose-fitting and slightly puffy instead --like a non-segmented version of Thirteen’s costume-- while using additional pieces of equipment to protect her pressure points and relieve nausea. She also had a black belt with pouches for first aid supplies; the two of them had sworn to be prepared for situations that required them after the entrance exam.

Her gear was something that they spent more time working out. The two of them had debated over her helmet for a while, but in the end, they’d gone with a full helmet with a see-through face panel that also had built-in communication, air filtration systems, and x-ray and thermal vision adaptations. They also specified that her wrist guards have grappling hooks built into it, allowing for greater mobility once up in the air. The look was topped off with boots that were similar to Izuku’s --without the iron sole additions-- but in rose pink instead. The two of them had vastly different aesthetics, but a single unifier indicated that they were planning to form a hero team: Uraraka had golden scales on both sides of her shoulders as well.

“I’m just glad I could help!”

“I’m so jealous,” Hagakure huffed. “You guys get to look all cool and professional, and I don’t get anything at all.”

Izuku froze, looking at Hagakure --who was only visible because of her gloves and boots-- with horror in his voice as he said, “Hagakure, please tell me that you’ve got a costume on.”

“Um, no? It’s kinda uncomfortable, but nothing can be done about it, right? Wearing stuff gives me away.”

“I know for a fact that UA’s support department came up with something that let a student with a permeation quirk keep his clothes on whenever he used his quirk. Something about him flashing all of Japan during his first Sports Festival? There’s no reason they shouldn’t be able to do the same for you.”

“Thank you for telling me,” Hagakure growled. “I told them I wanted a costume, but whatever company they sourced it through said it wasn’t possible.”

Mineta, having clearly heard their conversation, started creeping toward Hagakure, and Izuku gave him a glare that promised death before saying, “One more step and I punt you into the sun.”

The pervert squeaked and scuttled back, and the only thing that kept Izuku from chasing him even further was All Might calling out, “They say that the costume makes the hero, and you’re all looking the part!”

“All Might-sensei,” Iida called out, raising his hand and making it clear that he was the one in the full suit of armor. “This appears to be the same field used in the entrance exam. Will we be performing cityscape maneuvers again?”

“Nope, we’ll be moving on to step two: indoor anti-personnel training!”

‘A bomb scenario? That’s interesting. Maybe this won’t be so bad after all. I should’ve given All Might more credit.’

“Villain battles are most commonly seen outdoors, but statistically, the most intelligent villains are the ones that you’ll have to fight indoors. Between secret meetings, black market deals, and underground villain groups, the most dangerous villains lurk in the shadows, only striking out when they’ll remain unseen.”

Everyone nodded along. ‘I’m kinda surprised he’s bringing that up. All Might focuses a lot on the public villains for the sake of keeping the peace, but with that secret fight that got him hurt… I guess he would know about that too.’

“So, today you’ll be split into villain teams and hero teams! You’ll face off in two-on-two indoor battles!!”

“We don’t get basic training first?” Asui questioned, clearly as concerned as Izuku was about that fact.

“Practical experience teaches you all the basics you’ll need!”

‘Never mind, this is going to suck. Most of us have never used our quirks against people before, and he’s just going to throw us at each other and hope for the best? Even if UA has Recovery Girl, this seems incredibly reckless.’

“What determines victory?” Yaoyorozu questioned.

“Can I just blast everyone away?!”

“Are you going to threaten to expel someone like Aizawa-sensei did?” Mineta asked, trembling in his boots.

“How are we dividing ourselves into teams?!” Iida inquired.

“Isn’t my cape fabulous?” Aoyama asked, sparkling passively in a way that made Izuku wonder if that was part of his quirk.

“One at a time!” All Might cried out. “My quirk isn’t super-hearing!”

Izuku’s mentor looked overwhelmed, and once the class quieted down, he pulled out a piece of paper that was clearly his script. “Here’s the mission debriefing! The villain team will be hiding a fake nuclear weapon in their hideout, and the heroes have to go find and take care of it. Hero teams have a limited amount of time to either capture both villains or secure the weapon. Villain teams have to either capture the heroes or protect the weapon until the time is up. And…”

All Might grabbed a wooden box with a circular hole cut into the top. “Your partners will be decided by drawing lots!”

“Is that really a good way of doing this?” Iida questioned.

“It’s pretty realistic, actually! Heroes have to team up with people from other agencies during emergencies all the time, so the ability to work with other heroes on the fly is an important skill,” Izuku murmured. It was probably the most well-thought-out part of this exercise.

“I see! I apologize for getting ahead of myself.”

“It’s fine, young Iida! Let’s just get to it!”

When Izuku and Uraraka each pulled out a ball that had the letter A on it, they lit up. “Yes!!” Uraraka cheered with a feral grin. “Team Usagi is going to crush this!”

“Rest in peace to whoever goes against them,” Kaminari muttered, making Izuku choke on a laugh as several of his classmates nodded in miserable agreement.

Once everyone had their teams, All Might reached into two separated boxes labeled as hero and villain. “Moving on… The heroes of the first match are team A! The villains of the first match are team D!”

‘Oh, for fuck’s sake. I’m fighting Bakugo already?’

Bakugo looked thrilled at the turn of events, and Izuku knew that he’d be facing the consequences for standing up to Bakugo before UA and daring to beat him twice now. ‘I’m just gonna have to make it a third victory, huh?’

“The villain team goes in first! The timer will start once the hero team enters the building five minutes from now. The rest of the class will watch through the CCTV!”

All Might turned to Iida and Bakugo before saying, “You boys need to adopt a villain’s mindset. This is a practical experience, so go all out. Don’t hold back! Though I will, of course, stop you if things go too far...”

Izuku gulped as Bakugo and Iida walked into the building, thinking, ‘I just hope we have the same idea of too far. Given UA’s entrance exams, I can’t be too sure of that.’

-

“We better memorize these blueprints,” Uraraka muttered, studying the layout just as intensely as Izuku was. “Being able to see where Bakugo and Iida are won’t do us any good if we don’t know how to get to them.”

“Yeah…”

“Are you okay, Midoriya? You seem pretty worried.”

Izuku took a deep breath and nodded. “I’m sorry that this might jeopardize our victory, but I’m gonna do something incredibly stupid.”

Uraraka tilted her head at him, humming in question. “Bakugo is pissed because I have a quirk and he didn’t know, and he probably thinks I’m only beating him because of it. I just… I want to prove that even if I never got a quirk, I still could’ve done this. That I was never useless.”

“That’s not stupid,” Uraraka insisted. “Seeing your bully get into the hero course too… it’s not fair. You want to prove that he was always the problem, not you, and if you want to do that by fighting quirkless, then fight quirkless. What do you need me to do?”

“Uraraka…” Tears welled up in Izuku’s eyes, and he huffed when he realized that he couldn’t even wipe them away with his goggles on, blinking rapidly instead. “Thank you. Bakugo will want to go after me no matter what, so Iida is probably gonna be stuck pretty close to the bomb. It’ll be better for us to split this into two one-on-one battles if I’m doing this, so we’ll have to separate pretty quickly. Can you go after the heat signature that moves the least? Maybe pick up some rocks and stuff to use as ammunition before it starts. I doubt there’ll be much to throw around in the building without destroying it first.”

“Sounds good to me! Just keep the comms open, okay?”

Izuku nodded. ‘Even if it just means stalling him until Uraraka can get to the bomb, it’ll still be a victory. Proof that I can do it without One for All. I won’t let my grudge match cause a communication breakdown, though. That’ll probably be one of the only advantages we have against Bakugo and Iida.’

“Start!”

Izuku and Uraraka looked at each other, nodded, and twisted the knobs that would let them see through the walls and find Bakugo and Iida. One glowing light was going down to the fourth floor, marching at a steady pace that Izuku recognized. The other darted around in a central room on the fifth floor, moving so quickly that it couldn’t be anyone but Iida.

Uraraka used her quirk on him, allowing Izuku to quickly get up to a window on the fourth floor and slip in. She launched herself up to the window directly above him afterward and gave him a thumbs-up before stepping through. ‘Right. Let’s do this. The hallways are tight, but I can work with that.’

Izuku walked toward where the light had stopped moving, footsteps echoing down the halls. ‘I’ll have to keep in mind that the soles give me away.’ Once he got close to the corner that Bakugo was waiting for him at, he switched off both vision modes so that he wouldn’t be distracted by the thermal readings around Bakugo or the ability to see his bones.

Bakugo whirled around the corner, launching a massive explosion at Izuku’s face that he was barely able to dodge by jumping back. “I’ve made contact with Bakugo!”

“Got it,” Uraraka whispered. “I’m almost at the room with the bomb, but I’m gonna go through the vents instead of the door. I’ll have to be quiet and slow; keep me updated.”

“I’m gonna mess you up just enough to not get disqualified,” Bakugo snarled, drawing his right arm back in a predictable right hook. ‘You make it too easy.’ Bakugo swung forward, and Izuku darted to the side before grabbing his grenade gauntlet and grinning. He hurled Bakugo over his shoulder, using his bully’s momentum against him to send him into the ground hard.

“Nice, I heard that through the mic. Get him, Midoriya!” Uraraka’s quiet cheer spurred Izuku on. He looked at where a stunned Bakugo was starting to stand, looking at Izuku like he was seeing him for the first time. ‘Too little, too late.’

“You almost always lead with a right hook, you know? You’re so predictable that it’s boring,” Izuku said with a sneer. ‘I’m sorry, All Might. You’re going to be seeing an ugly part of me today.’ He tilted his head at Bakugo, faux innocence radiating from him as he asked, “So why would I bother using my quirk against you? I don’t need to.”

“Bet you think it’s real funny, huh?! You’ve been tricking me this whole time! I knew you were always looking down on me!”

“I wasn’t,” Izuku disagreed. “When I was young, I genuinely admired you, Bakugo. But we all have to grow up at some point. I realized that you weren’t worth admiring at all. Stop acting like I owe you something! I don’t owe you an explanation! I don’t owe you my time! I don’t owe you a damn thing!”

Izuku mirrored Bakugo’s feral snarl with one of his own, not that it could be seen behind his mask. It made him feel more powerful. “I wasn’t looking down on you then, but I sure am now. You disgust me. I’m pretty sure I actually hate you, Bakugo.”

“You… you piss me the fuck off! You’ve got some damn nerve, Deku! I’ll wreck your shit and get that explanation out of you, one way or another.” Bakugo launched toward him again, and Izuku ducked low, pulling out the capture tape in an attempt to get this done and over with. 

The capture tape snagged on one of Bakugo’s knee guards. For a split second, Izuku thought he might be able to wrap it around him, but Bakugo propelled his arms with explosions and went for another right hook. Izuku was forced to jump back, dropping the capture tape for now. ‘Rope isn’t going to be strong enough to hold him unless I knock him out. I was hoping to at least trip him up, but oh well.’

Izuku took off, running down the halls and toward the staircase to the third floor. ‘I need to buy Uraraka time. I know that she can do this.’

“Get back here!” Bakugo screamed, chasing after him with explosions sounding off. ‘He could try to ambush me again --there are plenty of places for it-- but something tells me he didn’t bother looking at the layout.’ Bakugo’s loss was Izuku’s gain. He didn’t need a quirk to run away from Bakugo, after all. He had years of experience of doing just that.

“I’m going to crush you like the bug you are!”

“I’m getting close to the room, Midoriya. I should be able to drop down on the bomb soon.”

Izuku chuckled as he kept running, saying, “Good. Just make sure to be quiet about it. People rarely look up, so you should be good as long as you don’t alert him.”

“Will do!”

He ducked around a corner, crouching down as his air filtration system worked overtime to provide oxygen in the air-tight space. The soft mechanical whirring was the only indication that Izuku was hiding there at all, and he quietly twisted the knobs on his goggles again to search for Bakugo.

Izuku darted away again when he saw just how close Bakugo was, but his footsteps alerted Bakugo to his position. He turned the knobs again as blindingly bright explosions came back into view, and in Izuku’s haste to get away from Bakugo, he didn’t realize that he was running straight to a dead end. Not until it was too late.

“I’m all loaded up,” Bakugo said with a chuckle. “You still not gonna use it? Quit mocking me, Deku.”

“I’m not afraid of you, Bakugo.”

Izuku’s earpiece crackled. “I’m in position. Dropping soon.”

Bakugo lifted his hand, pointing his grenade gauntlet directly at Izuku. Now that he looked more closely at it, Izuku could see that it wasn’t just an aesthetic choice. ‘It’s a weapon!’

“You know, I should thank you for running like a coward. I’ve worked up a real sweat because of you, and assuming that my design requests were honored, these gauntlets have been storing all of that.” Bakugo rested his finger on the trigger, grinning as he said, “You’ll have to use your quirk now.”

“Secured!” Uraraka cried out.

The intercom beeped on, and Izuku watched as Bakugo’s face contorted with rage. “The hero--” Bakugo pulled the trigger. “--team wins!!”

Izuku’s world exploded in hues of orange and red.

-

“Nine really is something,” a middle-aged man mused. He glowed lavender, and all the other people in this dark realm glowed as well, though in different colors.  “I do not think that Eight knows him very well.”

“Toshinori means well, truly, but…” the only woman in the group sighed. “I’m worried. Nine doesn’t know what he’s up against. When he finds out...”

“The kid’s got spunk! He’ll be fine. Besides, you all feel it too, right?” a red, glowing man asked excitedly.

“He’s reaching out to us. Perhaps it’s because of his connection to me, but we’ll be able to assist him more directly than the previous users,” hummed a glowing green man. “He reminds me of my brother in some ways. Before the power got to his head. I suppose that’s to be expected…”

A young, glowing, blue man looked directly toward him, and Izuku felt a chill shoot up his spine. “I look forward to seeing what you do, Nine. One for All is behind you, no matter what path you choose.”

-

Izuku was disoriented when he woke up, the remnants of a distant dream lingering. His head was fuzzy and he fought back a groan of pain. ‘What… happened?’

“The year’s only just started and he’s been permanently scarred! Why didn’t you prevent this, All Might?! You should’ve called the match way before letting it get this bad!”

“I’m sorry, Recovery Girl…”

“You don’t need to apologize to me! That boy’s completely exhausted. I could barely start healing the external damage before I had to stop! He’s always going to have that burn on the side of his neck.”

‘Oh, right. I guess Bakugo gave me another scar to add to my collection. I think that’s lucky number seven.’ 

“Honestly, I know that you gave him your power, but you can’t let him indulge in personal grudges like that! I don’t care if he’s your favorite.”

“You’re right. I guess that I thought since he wasn’t using it… He was doing so well until I startled young Bakugo into pulling the trigger.”

‘No… That wasn’t an accident. Did you not see the look on his face? He wanted to hurt me just because he could.’

“They shouldn’t give children weapons that powerful,” Recovery Girl muttered. “Now go on, shoo. Midoriya needs to rest, and he won’t do that with two people bickering over him.”

“R-right. I’ll get going then.”

Izuku closed his eyes, shaking slightly as Recovery Girl peeled back the curtain that surrounded his hospital bed.

“How are you feeling, Midoriya?”

‘Right. Guess I couldn’t fool someone as experienced with people as Recovery Girl is.’ He cracked his eyes open, huffing softly. “Like Bakugo just tried to kill me,” he rasped.

Recovery Girl sighed. “I know that it was very scary, dearie, but I don’t think he meant to. He was hopped up on adrenaline. All Might should’ve known better than to have you kids fighting each other so soon.”

‘They’re just making excuses for him,’ Izuku thought as his heart panged. ‘I thought UA was gonna be different. It was obvious, wasn’t it? So why are they pretending that they didn’t see it?’

Izuku nodded numbly, knowing better than to try arguing against it. He would just have to go talk to the support department about getting some sort of kevlar piece to cover his neck too. ‘At least I know that the rest of my costume can withstand Bakugo’s blasts.’

He was going to need that protection.

-

His mother was horrified when she got back from work. “Izuku, baby, what happened to you?!”

Izuku could only wash so much of the soot off of him, and it was especially difficult when he needed to keep the bandage wrapped around his neck dry. He chuckled bitterly as he laid both bowls of miso soup out on the table, sitting down at his chair and fidgeting with his spoon.

“Bakugo happened.”

“That does it,” Inko growled as she dropped her purse on the counter. “I’m putting a restraining order on him.”

“Don’t,” he whispered.

“Izuku, it’s not right--”

“I know, but they think it was just a training accident. UA is the best thing that ever happened to me. I have friends and hope for my future and…” Izuku sniffled, dropping his spoon in his bowl as he rubbed at his eyes. “I don’t want them to choose Bakugo over me too. I don’t want to give them that choice. You and I both know I was painted as the instigator at Aldera. I barely avoided a black mark as it is. Who do you think they’ll believe?”

His mother got a pained look on her face, but she knew the answer to that question too. It was the only reason they’d never tried to do anything sooner.

“I fucking hate the law sometimes.”

Izuku burst into startled laughter. “Mom, you’re a lawyer--”

“That’s exactly why I hate it. You know the number of times I’ve seen a negligent hero wiggle out of charges just because they’ve got a good quirk? The number of times I’ve seen innocent people locked away because people were scared of them? I don’t know how you do it, Izuku. I’m proud of you, but I don’t think I’ll ever understand how you can be so… good.”

“Because someone has to be."

-

After stopping back by Recovery Girl’s office early the next morning and getting his neck healed as much as it would ever be, Izuku went to homeroom. The outcry when he opened the door was overwhelming.

“Izuku! I was so worried.” Uraraka sobbed. “When you didn’t come back to classes yesterday…”

“I’m sorry,” he apologized with a rueful smile. “I’m fine. My costume negated most of the blast.” There was a moment of quiet disbelief after he said that --his new burn scar was more visible than his others, after all-- but Uraraka just gave him a sad smile and nodded.

“Wait. Izuku?”

“Ah! Sorry, I didn’t mean to. I was just worried and we’ve talked a lot and--”

“It’s fine! I really don’t mind.” It was nice to have a friend that called him by his name. He couldn’t remember the last time someone who wasn’t his mother used it.

“Ochako then! It’s only fair.”

With that little play-by-play concluded, the rest of his class approached Izuku’s desk. “You were so manly, Midoriya!” Kirishima exclaimed. “We had no clue what you were saying, but you were super intense. We were all pumped up after that first battle.”

“I was impressed by your dodging skills,” Ashido said with a grin. “You move like a dancer. Did you take any classes?”

“Nothing formal,” Izuku answered with a shake of his head. “Mom has a hard time making time for exercise, though, so we started doing routines together in the evenings.”

“Why didn’t you use your quirk yesterday, kero?”

Bakugo perked up when he heard Asui’s question, glaring at Izuku like he was daring him to dodge the question. Izuku sighed. ‘Fine. You’ll get this much. Not much point in having a cover story that no one knows,’

“My quirk manifested really late. I trained hard, planning to become a quirkless hero, and then I found out that I had a quirk the whole time that just had special activation conditions. It felt a bit… cheap. I wasn’t going to hold back during the entrance exam, but I guess that I just wanted to see if I could’ve done it. I wanted to reassure myself that I didn’t need my quirk to become a hero. I think I would’ve always felt bad about using it if I didn’t.”

The entire class --minus Ochako, who already knew this, and Bakugo, who just looked pissed-- went dead silent, wide-eyed with shock.

Kaminari was the one to break the silence. “What?! You’re this crazy strong and got your quirk later than us?!”

“You are one who knows the darkness,” Tokoyami observed. “That you continue to embrace it despite your newfound light is admirable.”

Tokoyami’s quirk popped out of him, looking at Izuku and saying, “What Fumi means is that he thinks that it’s cool that you’re honoring where you started and what kind of hero you wanted to be!”

“Quiet, Dark Shadow,” Tokoyami grumbled.

‘A sentient quirk? Those are so rare!  I’ll have to talk to Tokoyami and Dark Shadow later and ask them a few questions.’

The classroom door opened, and the few students who were standing scrambled to get to their desks before Aizawa walked in. Everyone was dead silent. 

“Much better.” Aizawa sat a stack of papers down on his desk. “Good work with yesterday’s battle training. I’ve looked over all of your grades and evaluations. Bakugo.”

Bakugo jolted upright. “You’re prohibited from using your gauntlets until you prove that you can use them safely. Yesterday’s misfire could’ve had lethal consequences.” Surprisingly, Bakugo conceded with a nod, sinking into his desk. He glanced nervously at the scar trailing up Izuku’s neck.

‘Are you uncomfortable when you’re forced to see the aftermath of what you do to people, Bakugo? Good. I fucking hope so,’ Izuku thought spitefully.

“Midoriya.”

“Y-yes?”

“Don’t get so caught up in proving something that you neglect your advantages. You could’ve disabled Bakugo almost instantly, and you know it.”

Izuku grimaced, but Aizawa wasn’t wrong. “Yes, sir.”

“Now then, we’ve got some business to take care of during homeroom today. Sorry for the sudden announcement, but today you’ll be choosing a class president.”

The entire class burst into excited chattering, raising their hands as they begged to be the one picked. Izuku wouldn’t deny wanting the position for himself. ‘Leading a group is exactly what I want to do with my agency. This would be good practice for that.’

“Quiet down, everyone!” Iida cried out. “Leading the many is a heavy responsibility, and ambition does not equal capability. The class president must be trusted by all. I put forward the motion to host an election!”

The class murmured in assent and Iida turned to Aizawa before asking, “Will you allow this, Aizawa-sensei?!”

“Do whatever you want. Just be quick about it.”

They did just that, and while Izuku contemplated nominating Yaoyorozu for a few moments, he wrote down his name in the end. It wouldn’t have mattered either way.

“What the?! How the hell did Deku get five votes?!”

“It’s decided then. Midoriya is your president and Yaoyorozu is your vice.” Aizawa motioned for them to both come stand at the front, and Izuku smirked a little at the outrage on Bakugo’s face.

“I look forward to working with you, Midoriya.” It was obvious that Yaoyorozu was a bit disappointed that she didn’t get the role herself, but he was glad that she was being a good sport about it.

“Me too! Do you wanna sit with us at lunch so we can talk about how to split classroom duties?” 

“It would be my pleasure,” Yaoyorozu said with a small smile.

The morning’s classes went by quickly, and before Izuku knew it, he was sitting at a lunch table with his ever-expanding group of friends.

“Picking up more strays, Midoriya?” Shinsou asked as he joined them all, chuckling at how off-guard Yaoyorozu was to be referred to like that. “I don’t think I’ve ever spent time with so many people in my life. Name’s Hitoshi Shinsou. Welcome to the cult of Midoriya.”

“Shinsou,” Izuku hissed. “What did I say about scaring off friends with your humor?”

Tokoyami --the other new addition to their group-- only nodded at Shinsou solemnly. “It is an honor to be considered for membership.”

Yaoyorozu snorted. When everyone turned to look at her, she covered her mouth, clearly embarrassed. “Sorry, it’s just nice to see you all getting along. I was a bit worried about your position as president after yesterday’s battle trial, but you’ve got a way of bringing people together, don’t you?”

“Yep! That’s why I voted for him. Well, that and the fact that I’m gonna get an actual costume now. I just had to say your last name and they promised to put a rush on it…” Hagakure said, trailing off in contemplation.

“That’s because Mama Midoriya would rip them to shreds if they didn’t,” Ochako said with a snicker. “I voted for Izuku too, obviously. We’ve been working together from the beginning.”

“As did I! Midoriya’s grit and decisiveness in a pinch makes him perfectly suited for the role. For all that I desired the position myself, I couldn’t, in good conscience, vote for anyone else,” Iida declared.

“The ambassador of dusk had my vote as well. He is the perfect balance of light and dark, suited for leading a blended lot such as ours,” Tokoyami added, and Izuku had suspected that he was the other vote after he joined them today, but it was still nice to know.

“Well damn,” Shinsou drawled. “Look at you. Don’t forget me once you’ve got your entire class wrapped around your finger.”

“I would never do that, Shinsou! Besides, that’d never happen with Bakugo in our class.”

“There are thick shadows connecting you two. I sense a storied past there.” Tokoyami looked directly at him, voice soft with concern.

“Hm, yeah, we've never gotten along," Izuku said dismissively, not wanting to talk about it.

Yaoyorozu was quick to change the subject. “We should probably exchange numbers, yes?”

“Oh! Sure, anyone here that wants it can have it.” Izuku was immensely pleased to get every number that he didn’t already have. He was practically glowing with contentment. ‘This is nice. I never would’ve dreamed of having so many people who genuinely like me.’

“Um, right. We’ve gotta help the class with their problems in any way we can; I don’t see any reason why we both can’t do that. Could you maybe set up a schedule for tutoring sessions? Offering sign-ups for those would probably be a good idea, though we’d get swamped around finals and midterms…” Izuku muttered, mind running a mile a minute.

“Really, I’d rather treat us as two class presidents, you know? We’re partners, so I want your input too.”

Yaoyorozu looked stunned by that, but Iida only nodded solemnly. “Knowing when to delegate is an excellent quality in both a class president and a hero, but it is just as important to work in tandem with others. Tensei is a particularly firm believer in teamwork making all the difference.”

“Oh, speaking of, how is Ingenium doing, Iida? It’s been quite some time since I last visited.” Yaoyorozu’s words had Hagakure and Ochako crying out.

“Wait, you’re related to Ingenium?!”

“I knew you were a rich boy!”

Iida flushed. “Well, yes. I try not to advertise it, but I am the second son of the Iida family. Ingenium is my older brother.”

Any further conversation was cut off by a shrill alarm.

“Security level three has been broken. All students please evacuate in an orderly fashion.”

“What’s security level three?!” Iida asked, tensing up as the people around them started jumping to their feet.

“It means that there’s an intruder on the grounds!” an upperclassman yelled over his shoulder. “It’s never happened in my time here. We need to hurry up and get out!”

Several of Izuku’s friends started standing up, but he held up his hand and said, “Wait.”

“Huh? Midoriya, we’ve gotta evacuate!” Hagakure cried out.

“Look at everyone. They’re practically stampeding. Trying to walk out right now would just get us trampled. We need some way to direct them…” Izuku turned to Yaoyorozu, a lightbulb going off in his head. “Yaoyorozu, could you make a megaphone?”

“Oh! Of course.” She did so and handed it over to him, and Izuku mentally apologized to whoever had to clean the tables before jumping up on top of it, turning the megaphone on, and maximizing the volume.

“Attention everyone!” The yell was almost deafening, but it did the job. Some people were still frantically running, but most of them had slowed on instinct and turned to look his way. “Rushing like this will only make it more likely for you to get hurt. Everyone needs to file out of the building slowly! Hero students, raise your hands!”

He did so himself, watching as his friends, the rest of his classmates, and several people he didn’t recognize did so as well. “Anyone who is afraid of going alone, group up with a hero student! We’ll keep guard!”

Izuku hopped down from the table once the students started doing just that, breathing a sigh of relief. Several people came over to him and his friends, and they all split them evenly and began walking toward the exit. When Izuku glanced out the window and saw what the commotion was about, he groaned.

He held the megaphone up to his mouth and said, “It’s just reporters, everyone! We’re all safe!”

‘This is entirely too much excitement for one day. It’s not a good sign that the press is already that desperate to talk to All Might, though. I don’t like this. Something feels off.'

Chapter Text

“Now, for today’s basic hero training… Myself, All Might, and one other hero will be supervising.”

Izuku perked up when Aizawa said that. ‘So this is a special class. I’m glad that Aizawa-sensei is going to be there too; I don’t know if I’m ready to do something under just All Might’s supervision again.’

“Um, what’re we doing exactly?” Sero questioned.

Aizawa held up a card with rescue written across it. ‘Is this a normal thing at UA?’ “We’ll be preparing you for disaster relief, covering everything from fires to floods.”

“Rescue, huh? Sounds like another rough day,” Kaminari groaned.

Kirishima protested, saying, “No way, man! Rescue is what being a hero is all about. I’m pumped!”

“I’ll be right at home in a flood,” Asui said with a hum.

“Hey. I wasn’t done.” The entire class settled down, and Aizawa sighed as he pressed the remote that revealed their costume cases again. “You can decide whether or not to wear your costumes. Some of them are unsuited to this sort of activity.”

‘Isn’t that all the more reason to wear them and figure out what needs to be fixed? There’s no point in having a costume if it keeps you from rescuing people.’

“The training site is a bit remote, so we’ll be taking a bus there once you’re all ready. Get moving.”

Izuku was surprised to see Hagakure going for her costume case. “Did you get your new costume already?”

“Yep!” she cheered. “They were terrified of your mom, so they put it in on a rush order. Since they’d already done something like it before, it didn’t take too long. I’ll have to wear my gloves and boots until it’s possible for it to become visible, but that’s still so much better than before.”

Everyone rushed to get ready, heading out to the bus as soon as they were in costume. Once they were settled, Asui --who was sitting next to Izuku-- turned to him with a contemplative expression. “People usually say that I’m pretty blunt, Midoriya.”

“Oh? What is it, Asui?”

“Just call me Tsuyu. How long, exactly, have you had your quirk?”

Izuku froze. “Um, I uh…”

“I was wondering that too! It’s super manly that you honed it with even less time than we’ve had. It seems super versatile too! Way more flashy than my Hardening. My quirk’s useful in a fight, but it’s also kind of boring.”

“Your quirk is more than enough to go pro, though!” Izuku insisted, latching onto the change of subject. “It’s super useful for protecting people.”

“Yeah, don’t be down on yourself, Kiri! Besides, pros also have to worry about popular appeal. You’re super friendly, so you should do well there!”

“Back to Tsuyu’s question, mon ami. You were my hero in the entrance exam. I probably wouldn’t have gotten enough points without your and Uraraka’s help. Were you nine? Ten?”

Izuku’s eyes fell to the floor. “Fifteen,” he mumbled.

“Pardon moi? I must have misheard you--”

“I was fifteen,” Izuku repeated, more firmly this time. “I’ve only known about Accumulator for a few months.”

“What?!”

“B-but dude! You literally got the top score on the entrance exam! How?!” Kaminari cried out.

Izuku rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, and his voice steadily rose with his nerves as he said, “I’ve always loved analyzing quirks, so when I figured out that I had one… I found a quirk gym and started testing things out right away. Ochako was a huge help too. I could just stay in the zone while she directed me. I have to be really careful about my power output, so it’s kinda hard to focus on so many things at once. I’m working on it.”

His classmates were staring at him in a blend of awe and horror. Izuku was mortified when even Aizawa turned back to look at him. “Midoriya, we’ll need to talk about that later.”

“Y-yes, sir,” he squeaked.

To Izuku’s relief, the rest of the bus ride was far less eventful. Everyone fell back into casual conversations that he was happy to stay out of --Izuku had socialized more than enough for one day-- and the entire class was excited when they arrived at the massive rescue facility. ‘It almost looks like a theme park…’

“There’s the flood zone, landslide zone, conflagration zone, and so on. We cover every kind of disaster and accident that you can imagine! I planned out this entire facility myself. I call it the Unforeseen Simulation Joint!” Thirteen gave the class a wave after their introduction

“It’s the Space Hero: Thirteen!” Ochako squeaked. “They’re such an amazing rescue hero! They’ve been my role model for as long as I can remember, and they even work in rural areas like where I grew up!”

Izuku had learned about Ochako’s love for all things Thirteen --all things space, really-- pretty shortly after the entrance exam, but he noticed several of their classmates seemed surprised by her excited rambling.

“Do you think Midori’s rambling is contagious?” Ashido asked, and Izuku hunched his shoulders in embarrassment as he focused on his teachers instead.

“Thirteen, where’s All Might? I thought that he was meeting us here.”

“Ah, about that... “ Thirteen lifted three fingers as they said, “He almost reached his limit during his morning commute. He’s probably resting in the break room right now.”

Izuku sighed at that. ‘Why am I not surprised? He’s going to run himself into the ground.’

“That man is the height of irrationality,” Aizawa huffed. “So be it. We’ll just go on without him. Go ahead, Thirteen.”

“Ah, yes! I do have a few points I’d like to make first.” They turned to face the class more directly, and while it was impossible to see their facial expression, Thirteen’s tone made it clear that this was going to be a serious talk. “As I’m sure that many of you are aware, my quirk is called Black Hole. It can suck in and tear apart anything.”

Ochako nodded vigorously as Izuku said, “Yeah! You’ve used it to save all sorts of people in disasters by getting rid of rubble.”

“Indeed. However, my power could also easily kill. I’ve no doubt that there are some among you with similar abilities.” Izuku couldn’t help letting his eyes flick over to Bakugo when Thirteen said that. “In our super-powered society, the use of quirks is heavily restricted and monitored.”

‘Tell that to Aldera.’

“It may seem like our system is a stable one, but we must never forget that it only takes one wrong move with an uncontrollable quirk for people to die. Aizawa’s physical test helped you learn about your potential. All Might’s battle training taught you how dangerous your quirks can be to others. This class is focused on teaching you how to save lives! Your powers are not meant to hurt others. I hope that you leave here today with a better understanding of what heroes do: help people.”

‘This is what it’s all about! I hope we have more classes like this one.’

“Thank you for listening!” Thirteen said with a bow.

“Great, first off…” Aizawa started, pausing halfway through his sentence before turning around to look at something. Izuku followed his line of sight, squinting until he made out a small, black hole that was slowly expanding outward. A hand reached out of it.

“Huddle up and don’t move!” Aizawa shouted. Izuku let One for All flare to life, green lightning flickering around him as he fastened his mask to his face and pulled his goggles down. ‘I can’t risk becoming a sitting duck. I need to be ready to move in an instant.’ His classmates took in his tense form and readied themselves as well. Izuku was proud of them.  

“Thirteen! Protect the students!” Aizawa pulled his goggles down as more people stumbled out of the portal. “Do not engage them,” he barked at the class. “These are real villains!”

“Thirteen… and Eraserhead, was it?” the portal asked in a tone that somehow felt both sinister and curious. “According to the staff schedule I obtained the other day, All Might is supposed to be here.”

Izuku felt like his heart was in his throat, practically choking him with a sudden, horrified understanding. ‘It’s already happening.’

“Of course… that whole incident yesterday was this scum’s doing.”

A villain covered in hands started talking. “Where is he? We’ve come all this way and brought such a large party… All Might, the Symbol of Peace, is he here?”

‘We’re already being targeted because of All Might.’ 

“I wonder… Would some dead kids bring him running?”

Yaoyorozu turned to Thirteen before asking, “Sensei, aren’t there intruder sensors? Are they silent?”

“There are, but there should be an alarm…”

“Are the villains only here or at the main building too? Either way, if the sensors aren’t working, then one of their quirks is likely responsible,” Todoroki said with a hum.

“They attacked far away from the main campus, disabling the sensors and picking a time when there wouldn’t be many people here… This is well-coordinated. They have to have some sort of objective, but what is it? Killing All Might? Shaking faith in UA? Whatever it is, it isn’t good,” Izuku muttered.

“Thirteen! Focus on evacuation and attempt to contact the school. Kaminari, try using your quirk to signal for help!”

“Got it!”

Aizawa’s capture weapon raised alongside his hair, and just before he hopped over the railing, Izuku cried out, “Sensei, wait! You can’t fight them all alone! Erasure is best suited to ambush tactics, and with that many, you can’t even erase all of their quirks. Fighting that many people at once is a death sentence!”

“It’ll be alright, Midoriya. No good hero is a one-trick pony. Thirteen, I’m trusting them to you!”

Izuku watched Aizawa leap into the fray, awed by him using the villains’ numbers against them to sow confusion as he erased specific quirks and threw them at one another with his capture weapon. ‘So this is what it means to be a pro… I guess Aizawa-sensei can handle himself, but he’ll still get worn down eventually. We need to get backup. Fast.’

He joined Thirteen and his classmates, pointedly lingering at the back of the group while they made their way to the exit. The portal villain kept them from going very far. “I’m afraid that I cannot allow you to escape.”

Everyone froze, and the portal villain chuckled before saying, “Greetings. We are the League of Villains, and I am known as Kurogiri. Forgive our audacity, but we have come here today to end the life of All Might, the Symbol of Peace.”

‘I had a feeling… if they planned this out so carefully, then they probably have a way to do it too. Anyone who studies his patterns can tell that All Might has been becoming less active. Do they just assume he’s weakening because of that, or do they know something more?’

“We were under the impression that he would be present today, but it would appear that there was a change of schedule. No matter. My role in this remains unchanged.” Black swirls began to surround them all, but Kirishima and Bakugo jumped forward before he could teleport them away, attacking the metal collar around Kurogiri’s throat.

“We’ll end you before you get the chance!” Bakugo snarled.

Kirishima hardened his arms further, grin full of sharp teeth on full display as he said, “Betcha didn’t see that coming!”

“My, my, that was quite close… I ought to give you more credit. Students though you may be, you are the best of the best.” Izuku gulped as Kurogiri reevaluated them all. ‘Why would you rush in like that? You have to be careful in situations like this.’

“No! Both of you, get back!” Thirteen screamed.

It was too late. Almost everyone was swathed in black and scattered throughout the USJ, and Izuku could only hope that everyone would hold out until help arrived.

-

When Izuku blinked out of the portal, he found himself several feet above the water in the flood zone. He grimaced behind his mask, grateful that it was air-tight as he hit the water hard. ‘One hell of a field test for the rebreather function, but it’ll buy me some extra time either way.’

The water in the flood zone was murky and dark. Izuku could only see a few feet in front of him. He reached up to his goggles and turned on his thermal vision as he slowly sank, looking around him before attempting to swim to the surface. It was slow going. ‘At least my goggles were waterproofed properly.’

“There you are!” a shark villain called out with a fanged grin, though the voice was distorted by the water. ‘Ah, fuck. I should’ve considered that. Sharks are cold-blooded, and there are probably a few other people here who won’t register at a different temperature from the water itself.’

A gaping maw opened, stretching so wide that Izuku worried he might be swallowed whole. “It’s nothing personal, kid, but it’s time to say goodbye!”

Izuku tried to jerk away, but he wasn’t used to moving underwater. He was slow, too slow, and the only thing that kept him from losing a chunk of flesh was Tsuyu rushing in out of nowhere and kicking the shark villain in the jaw. She held Mineta under one arm and shot her tongue out to grab him before swimming upward, surfacing next to a boat that she quickly set Izuku down on top of. Mineta was thrown up shortly afterward, and then Tsuyu climbed up the side to join them.

“Thanks for the save, Tsuyu! Note to self, take off the iron soles before getting in the water.”

“No problem, Midoriya. But we seem to be in a bit of trouble here.”

“Yeah,” he sighed, looking out over the water to see several thermal readings heading toward the surface. He flipped the setting off, knowing that they’d see anyone trying to attack them from up here either way. “They knew our schedule, and that means that they probably caused the media rush yesterday as a distraction. But they don’t know everything. We can work with that.”

“Y-yeah! Besides, there’s no way they can kill All Might, right?” Mineta stammered.

“They wouldn’t attack us if they didn’t have a way,” Tsuyu said bluntly. She turned to Izuku before asking, “What do you mean they don’t know everything?”

“They sent you to the flood zone, Tsuyu. The villains have our schedule and were divided to fight in regions that they excel in, but if they knew about our quirks, then they would’ve sent you to the conflagration zone! We have to exploit the fact that they don’t know what we can do.”

Izuku looked over at where several heads were peaking out of the water, jerking his head in that direction. “They’re not trying to climb on the boat, see? They’re being cautious.” ‘It’s a shame that we can’t count on them underestimating us, but I think I have an idea…’

“I see,” Tsuyu croaked. “Then I’ll explain my quirk. I can jump really high, stick to walls, and my tongue can stretch to a maximum of twenty meters. That’s not a frog thing, but one of my grandparents had a chameleon quirk and the mutation stuck. I can also spit up my stomach and secrete a mild poison, but it’s more of an irritant than anything else.”

“Woah, that’s super versatile,” Izuku murmured, mind racing with the possibilities. ‘Analyze later. Focus now.’ “I’m still learning a lot of the ins and outs of my quirk, but right now I take in ambient energy, store it, and can use it later. It seems to act as a general enhancer that makes me faster and stronger than a baseline human.”

They both turned to Mineta. He pulled one of the balls off of his head and stuck it to a wall. “It’s really sticky. If I’m feeling good, then it can stay up there all day, but the time varies. A new one grows out to replace the old one, but if I pull too many too fast, then I’ll start bleeding. They also bounce off my own body without sticking to me.”

‘Hm. That could be useful in a lot of scenarios, but in this situation, it’s not going to be especially helpful. It’s alright. Tsuyu and I should be able to do this either way.’ 

Suddenly, a massive wave rocked the ship, making all three of them stumble. “I’m getting bored over here! Let’s finish this!”

“He split the boat straight in two, kero.”

Mineta panicked, flailing as he threw several purple orbs into the water. The villain’s cautiousness around them and refusal to touch them only proved Izuku’s theory. “Tsuyu, climb to the top of the boat with Mineta, please. How close to the shore will you be able to jump if you only carry him?”

“Pretty close. But what will you do, Midoriya?”

He turned back to face them, a savage grin hidden beneath his mask. “I’m going to bluff. I want you two to go while I’m keeping them distracted, I’ll jump after you right after.”

Tsuyu started climbing up the tallest part of the boat while hauling Mineta up with her, looking down at Izuku with a worried expression. ‘It’s alright. I’ve got this.’

He let One for All flare to life, chuckling as the villains in the water balked at the green lightning surrounding him. “You guys didn’t think this through, did you?!” he shouted. “What kind of morons send someone with an electricity quirk to a water zone?!”

The villains burst into a cacophony of terrified yelling.

“Oh fuck!”

“Shit, get away!”

“Get out of the water!”

Tsuyu used their distraction to leap away, and Izuku looked down on all of the villains as the boat sank closer and closer to the water. Most of them were already swimming toward the edges of the water, but a few stubborn villains still lingered by the boat.

“You know, I don’t want to kill anybody, but I’m pretty sure that they’d class this as self-defense. Wanna find out?” Izuku kept his voice eerily light, hating every second of it. ‘I don’t like saying stuff like this, but it’s better than actually hurting them.’

Thankfully, his intimidation tactic worked. As soon as the remaining villains were too far away to threaten him, Izuku launched himself over the water. He got about halfway across the zone before he hit the water. His iron soles weighed him down enough that he was forced to swim underwater for a while, but his mask allowed him to breathe just fine until he resurfaced in the shallows. He rejoined Tsuyu and Mineta at the edge of the water with a relieved sigh

“Good job, kero. Acting like you had an electricity quirk was smart.”

“Thanks,” Izuku said sheepishly.

“A totally dependable class president!” Mineta sobbed. “You saved us!”

“It’s no big deal, really.”

“What should we do now, Midoriya?” Tsuyu questioned.

“Right… For now, our first priority is getting help. We should follow the shoreline to the exit and avoid the plaza altogether, if at all possible.”

Tsuyu nodded. “That sounds like a plan. It looks like Aizawa-sensei is drawing most of them to the plaza.”

“There are too many of them,” Izuku murmured. “He’s more than holding his own out there, but it’s still too much for him to handle alone. He knew that and jumped in to protect us anyway.”

Surprisingly, Mineta seemed to pick up on his tone. “What? Midoriya, don’t tell me that you’re gonna…”

“I’m not saying that we should dive right into the fight! Just that we watch for openings and lighten Aizawa-sensei’s load whenever we can.”

Keen, green eyes tracked Aizawa as he jumped around the plaza, watching as the first villain that stepped through the portal grabbed the end of his capture weapon before it could wrap around him. ‘That’s a fast reaction time. He’s not like the others.’

The hand villain weaved between his allies as Aizawa fought them off, and Izuku gasped when he saw a hand grab hold of his teacher’s elbow. ‘A five-point activation quirk? What--’ Aizawa’s elbow started crumbling.

‘Disintegration? Decay? Whatever it is, this is definitely the villain who destroyed the gate yesterday. Let the media in as a distraction while sending a warper to steal the schedule amidst the chaos… That’s clever. He’s the leader here.’

Thankfully, Aizawa jerked back from the villain’s grasp quickly. His elbow continued taking damage without direct contact, but once his hair raised as he canceled the villain’s quirk, it stopped. 

Izuku made the mistake of assuming that things would be okay. Aizawa wouldn’t make the same mistake again; he’d find a way to avoid the hand villain’s, well, hands, right? Then a behemoth with an exposed brain and a gaping beak with jagged, rock-like teeth rushed over to Aizawa in an instant, slamming him down and pinning him to the ground.

The hand villain’s delighted voice was loud enough to carry over to them. “Meet the Anti Symbol of Peace. This is the bio-engineered nomu.”

‘This is how they planned to kill All Might. Aizawa-sensei can’t beat something like that!’ 

“Cancelling quirks is pretty cool, but it’s nothing special. There’s not much you can do against raw strength."

The nomu snapped Aizawa’s arm like it was a twig, and blood dripped down onto the ground beneath it. ‘He’s going to die. I have to get the nomu off of him! I have to pull the thing off somehow!’ Deep within himself, Izuku felt a faint, pleased buzz. Something almost like satisfaction.

Black tendrils exploded from him. They writhed as they lifted him into the sky, destroying everything in their path. Izuku gritted his teeth in pain, choking at the overwhelming, burning sensation as the tendrils dragged him toward the plaza. Despite all of this, only one thing was running through Izuku’s mind.

‘Protect him. I have to protect him.’

“Calm down, Nine! Wield the quirk; don’t let it wield you!” Izuku’s eyes widened as a vaguely familiar red, glowing man spoke to him. “You may not have been born with a quirk, but you were born with certain secondary traits. You’re capable of controlling this, Nine, I know you are!”

‘Turn the valve. Control the power, turn the valve, protect him.’

“What kind of Slenderman fuckery is this?!” the hand villain cried out, looking up at Izuku with something like fear. 

The tendrils still thrummed with energy, but they were less aggressive now. It was like the burn that came after a good workout instead of the burn that would come with touching a stovetop. The tendrils wrapped themselves around the nomu, intertwining themselves until they became a reinforced, braided cord. Izuku could feel the beast struggling against the restraints, but these tendrils could not be broken. They stretched, they heaved, and they hurled the nomu through the roof of the USJ. Far, far away from the people he cared about. He would not let this creature threaten them.

“Stay with me kid. Don’t lose yourself to this; there’s still a threat here.”

Izuku heeded the glowing man’s advice, taking a few deep breaths before lowering himself to the ground and patting the tendrils affectionately. He planted himself between the hand villain and Aizawa, the green lightning of One for All sparking up alongside his tendrils in an unholy dance of light and shadows.

“You will not touch him,” Izuku declared. “Leave.”

“Y-you… How interesting,” the villain hummed, sizing Izuku up. “You must be a hidden boss. No wonder All Might didn’t show up for this level.”

Kurogiri suddenly appeared by the hand villain’s side. “Tomura Shigaraki.” Glowing, yellow eyes blinked as they took in the scene. “What on earth…?”

“Kurogiri, is Thirteen dead?”

Black tendrils flared and swayed menacingly as Izuku stared them both down, waiting for the answer to that question.

“They were incapacitated, but not eliminated. Unfortunately, I was unable to warp away all of the students. One of them escaped.”

“Oh? It truly is game over then. With the heroes on the way and the hidden boss here, there’s no point in sticking around. We’re under-leveled for this fight.” Shigaraki turned to face Izuku as he said, “We’ll be back, hidden boss.”

Shigaraki and Kurogiri warped away, causing several villains in the plaza to cry out in despair once they realized they were being left behind. Izuku stood in place as he guarded his teacher. A few villains tried charging him and Aizawa, but he put them in the ground for their hubris, leaving tendrils wrapped around them until help came.

“Pretty useful, isn’t it? That’s my quirk, Blackwhip! The quirks of the past users of One for All… they’ve been lingering in there all this time, growing stronger alongside the base power that was passed on. But you, kid, you’re the first one that they’ve wanted to wield them! Black Whip is great for capture and mid-air maneuvers, but it’s influenced by your emotions. It went out of control because you were so scared, but when you channeled that fear into determination to protect your teacher, they calmed down and focused on that mission! It was real impressive to see.”

“I see,” Izuku murmured.

“Midoriya.” Izuku turned to face his teacher with a tilted head. Aizawa sighed, gritting his teeth as he started to stand. “We are discussing your quirk after this.”

Izuku nodded before paling when he realized something. ‘Wait. Can Aizawa-sensei hear the red, glowing man or--’

“Don’t panic kid! The only one who can hear me is you; One for All’s secret is still safe. And my name is Daigoro Banjo, though you can also call me Five.”

‘The fifth wielder of One for All…’

“Exactly that! You’re smart as a whip, Nine. I’m almost out of time, but know that you aren’t alone! All the vestiges are with you, and in time, five more quirks that are buried within One for All will be with you too. It’s a lot to master, but if anyone can do it, then it’s you, kid! Work hard!”

Banjo began fading from existence, giving Izuku a reassuring grin, a thumbs up, and a pat on the head that felt more like a whisper of wind than any real touch. ‘I was not warned that One for All came with friendly ghosts.’

The feeling of mirth within Izuku was most definitely not his own, and that would be a strange sensation to get used to. ‘Definitely need to talk to Tokoyami and Dark Shadow eventually. One for All seems to be a sentient quirk too. Or is it called something different when a quirk stores consciences? I doubt there’s a category for that. Tokoyami would still be good to speak to. He’s someone who has experience with someone else knowing his every thought and with feeling emotions that aren’t his own. I’ll just have to be careful about how I bring it up.’

Tsuyu and Mineta cautiously approached Izuku and Aizawa, the former asking, “Is there anything we can do to help, kero?”

Izuku shook his head. “Aizawa-sensei needs medical attention, but all my first aid supplies got soaked in the flood zone. We can’t risk an infection by treating anything with contaminated supplies.”

“I’m right here, Midoriya,” Aizawa huffed. “A broken arm isn’t that bad in the grand scheme of things. I can still walk. Let’s just get you kids back to the entrance.”

Said entrance was suddenly blown wide open. All Might burst through the door, kicking up walls of dust with his speed. Once the air cleared, Izuku could see that his idol’s teeth were gritted in an unnatural grimace that sent a chill up his spine. “Fear not. I… am here?”

All Might’s expression morphed into one of confusion as he looked at Izuku --who currently had several terrified villains wrapped up with Blackwhip-- though he rushed over to them anyway. “Aizawa, what’s--”

“You’re late,” Aizawa spat. “And because of that, these kids had to fight for their lives. Some still may be. We’ve got the plaza; you go check the other zones. Are others coming?”

“Yes, of course,” All Might said, guilt written all over his face. His gaze lingered on Izuku for a moment before he shook it off. “The rest of the staff is on the way. I’ll go make sure all the kids are alright.”

Izuku watched his mentor take off before beginning to head toward the entrance, holding the villains he’d captured off the ground so that they didn’t get injured by him dragging them along. ‘Not like these guys are any kind of threat anyway.’

Ochako, Ashido, and Sero were crying at the entrance once they got there, clearly relieved that everything was over. Satou was sitting down heavily as he took deep breaths in and out. Izuku hissed when he saw how the whole back of Thirteen’s suit had been obliterated. ‘Shigaraki was never over here, so how…? Oh. Kurogiri must have used their own quirk against them. Thirteen isn’t a combat hero, so they probably couldn’t react in time.’

“Izuku, what was that?!” Ochako cried out. “You were just suddenly in the sky with all these tentacle things coming out of you… I thought a villain got you, but then you were controlling it. How…?”

Izuku laughed uneasily, and Blackwhip vibrated with his nerves, shaking the villains in their grasp. One of them got sick. 

“Apparently, my quirk is a hell of a lot more complicated than I thought it was.”

-

Thankfully, none of Izuku’s classmates were hurt in the attack. Aizawa only had to be seen by Recovery Girl before he was at his best again, but he passed out immediately after being healed. Izuku tried not to feel grateful about the fact that he would be able to avoid that talk about his quirk for a bit longer.

Thirteen was in more serious condition, but the paramedics that had taken them to the hospital told them that they were likely to make a full recovery. ‘They could’ve just been lying to reassure us, but we can’t do anything but hope for the best now.’

Now, Izuku was sitting in a room at UA. He looked back and forth between All Might and a plain-looking detective that apparently knew about his small form, given that he didn’t react to All Might transforming at all.

“Um… You wanted to talk to me? You said that it wasn’t a time for giving statements...”

The detective smiled at him, but Izuku didn’t trust it for one second. There was an uneasy look in his eyes that made Izuku feel like he did something wrong even when he knew he didn’t. “And this isn’t quite that. My name is Naomasa Tsukauchi, and my quirk is Lie Detector.”

Tsukauchi didn’t explain any more than that, but he didn’t need to. ‘I wonder how, exactly, it works, but he’s probably keeping that a secret for a reason.’

“I do want to ask you something about what happened, but your official statement can wait. Midoriya, what is your quirk?”

Izuku tensed slightly, cursing himself for the instinctive reaction. “Um, it’s registered as Accumulator, an energy-based emitter quirk--”

“Oh! I’m sorry, young Midoriya. Naomasa is one of my closest friends; he knows about One for All in addition to this form. You don’t have to hide it.”

‘A little heads up would’ve been nice. How many people know? Why am I not allowed to tell anyone if you told people?’ Izuku took a deep breath before saying, “Right. My quirk is One for All.”

“And you don’t have a quirk other than that?”

‘Is this about Blackwhip? Wait! Is this an interrogation?’ Izuku thought, truly hurt. All Might had rushed him off into a room to talk about this immediately, and while Izuku wouldn’t have minded explaining, the fact that he brought someone to make sure that he didn’t lie stung. ‘Does he not trust me?’

“No.” It wasn’t technically a lie. Blackwhip was a part of One for All, so while it was its own quirk before, it was under the same umbrella now.

“Then, my boy, what was that power at the USJ?”

“A part of One for All. I saw Aizawa-sensei get hurt by that nomu and could only think ‘He’s going to die’ and  ‘I have to protect him’. Then those tendrils were everywhere. I guess it adapted to what I needed.”

He didn’t miss the way that both Tsukauchi and All Might relaxed at that, the latter practically slumping over in relief. ‘Something is going on here. What are they not telling me?’

Tsukauchi smiled at him before saying, “Thank you, Midoriya. You should probably get home now. Classes are canceled tomorrow while we run a thorough sweep of the school and help them implement security measures, so get some rest. You did well today.”

‘So then why were you treating me like a criminal?’

Chapter Text

Izuku breathed a silent sigh of relief when Aizawa walked into their next homeroom completely unharmed. 

“Morning. It’s good to see that you all stuck to the course,” Aizawa said in an unusually gentle tone.

‘Huh. I didn’t even consider that someone might… We did face villains unusually early though. We haven’t even really learned anything yet.’

“Glad to see you doing well, Aizawa-sensei!” Iida cried out, and the rest of the class echoed the sentiment.

“It wasn’t anything serious. What is serious, however, is the fact that UA’s Sports Festival is nearly upon us.”

“We’re still having that?! Isn’t that a bad idea after the villain attack?” Mineta cried out. Most of Izuku’s classmates seemed too excited to care, but Izuku did notice that Kouda and Ojiro also seemed nervous.

“It’s necessary. Suddenly canceling would create unease, and it’s better to show that UA’s crisis management protocols are sound… That’s the thought behind it, anyway. However, it’s not just business as usual. There’ll be five times the police presence in comparison to past years, and heroes will be on high alert throughout.”

Aizawa sighed before looking over them all. “Besides, the Sports Festival is important to your careers. It’s one of the biggest opportunities you’ll get; it’s not something that can be canceled over a few villains.”

Yaoyorozu raised her hand before saying, “The nation’s top heroes will all be watching, correct? They’ll all be there as scouts.”

“They’ll be looking to hire us as sidekicks after we graduate! It’s a great way to get your foot in the door,” Kaminari said with a wide grin.

“A lot of those sidekicks never manage to go solo, though. They’re stuck as sidekicks forever. If you’re not careful, then that’ll be you, Kaminari,” Jirou snorted.

‘I really don’t get why everyone is so obsessed with working alone. Hero groups can reach more people with a wider skillset! And why do we even call people sidekicks? It’s not like they don’t have hero’s licenses…’

Aizawa cleared his throat. “Naturally, you’ll gain valuable experience and popularity if you’re picked up by a big-name hero. The better you do in the Sports Festival, the more likely that will happen. But your time is limited. Show the pros what you’re made of here and make a future for yourselves; you only get three chances at earning internships like this.”

Morning classes went by in a flash, and before he knew it, Izuku was excitedly asking his friends about why they wanted to become heroes.

“I wish to uphold the family legacy and make my brother proud!” Iida declared. “It would be my honor to work under my brother until there comes a time where I’m ready to work on my own.”

Ochako looked decidedly uncomfortable for a few moments before saying, “For the money. I know that it sounds bad, especially compared to Iida’s reasoning, but I just…”

“Nothing wrong with wanting to take care of yourself,” Shinsou insisted. “Anyone who says otherwise is an asshole that doesn’t know what it’s like to be poor.”

“Yeah… My family owns a construction company, but business is bad. We’ve always struggled to put food on the table. I offered to get permission to use my quirk to help them out, but they wanted me to chase my own dreams instead. So I decided that I’ll become a hero, make money, and ensure that Mom and Dad can have easier lives.”

“I would argue that is an incredibly noble reason, Uraraka,” Yaoyorozu said with a smile. “In comparison, my own seems quite selfish… My future has been laid out for me since the day I was born. I was always meant to be the heiress of the family company, marry well, and have children. I wanted a chance to do something more than that. Heroism was the only thing noble enough for my family to even consider, so I leapt at the chance.”

“It’s not selfish to want a better life, Yaoyorozu!” Iida insisted.

Izuku watched the play-by-play with a contemplative hum.

“I just wanted to be seen,” Hagakure said. “I grew up terrified that everyone would forget I existed one day.”

“I wished to comfort my fellow beings of darkness, proving to them that they have a place in our world too,” Tokoyami declared.

“Ah, quirk discrimination. My reasons for wanting to join the hero course are basically the same,” Shinsou said, and he and Tokoyami nodded in solidarity.

Izuku’s friends all turned to look at him, and he realized with a start that he hadn’t answered his own question. “Quirkless people… we’re not seen as human. UA was the only high school that I applied to; it was the only one that I could apply to. Teachers, doctors, police officers… if they heard the word quirkless, then they just looked away. No matter what happened. It felt like people were just waiting for me to die my entire life.”

“Izuku…” Ochako whispered. She had tears welling up in her eyes.

“I want to prove them wrong. To prove that the quirk someone is born with or without doesn’t dictate what they can or can’t do in life. Most importantly, I want to create change. Heroism is the only path that lets me do all of those things.”

“Damn, you’ve already got the public speaking thing down, huh?” Shinsou muttered.

Izuku went to respond, but a booming voice calling his name interrupted them. He turned to All Might with wide eyes. ‘Didn’t he want to be discreet? Everyone in the cafeteria is looking at us!’

“Hey, kid! Could we talk for a second?”

Thinking on his feet, Izuku said, “Oh! Aizawa-sensei did say that he wanted to talk about that new ability… Sure! Sorry guys, gotta go!” He waved to his friends as he trotted off after All Might, breathing a sigh of relief once they were in the staff break room.

All Might reverted to his smaller form, giving Izuku an odd look. “What was that about, young Midoriya?”

“We’re supposed to keep One for All a secret, right? A link between you and me would be suspicious! I guess I could mention the sludge villain incident if anyone asks, but it’d still be better to keep anyone from asking at all,” he muttered. 

“Such a worrier… One for All looks quite different for you than it does for me, so I don’t think you have to be so careful about that. Especially now that you have those… what are you calling them?”

“Abyssal Whips.” Tokoyami had mentioned that they looked like something belonging to an eldritch horror, and Izuku hadn’t wanted to risk someone digging deep enough in the quirk registry to find Blackwhip. He was going to have to keep track of a list of fake quirk names at this rate.

“Right, those. That’s not what we’re here to talk about though! I wanted to talk with you about the Sports Festival.”

Izuku blinked, looking up to All Might with a tilted head.

“Ever since I passed my power on to you, I’ve felt my time grow shorter and shorter. I only have about an hour and a half of my hero form left now. My time as the Symbol of Peace is quickly coming to an end, and there are those with villainous intent that have started to realize that.”

‘Yeah… Shigaraki outright promised he’d be back, and I doubt that he’s the only one who’ll want to take advantage of the chaos.’

“I granted you my power so that you could succeed me!” All Might clenched his fist, and when he looked at Izuku, it almost felt like he was seeing someone else entirely.

“The Sports Festival is an event that the whole country will be watching, so that means one thing for us! You, the next All Might, the fledgling Symbol of Peace… I need you to tell the world: ‘I am here!’ This is a great chance to gain mass appeal for yourself!”

“Um, I don’t know…” Izuku mumbled, nervously wringing his hands. “I want to get a good internship, of course, but I’m not sure it’s wise to bring too much attention to myself.” He already had one villain that had promised to see him again; Izuku didn’t want to make himself more of a target. Not this early. “I was gonna help the others stand out, actually.”

All Might chuckled, shaking his head. “There’s no one more dedicated to the world of nonsense than you, kid. The difference between those who aim for the top and those who don’t… That matters in a big way once you make your debuts. I can understand how you’re feeling, though. I won’t try to force you, but don’t forget what drove you while you were cleaning up the beach.”

‘I won’t. My goal hasn’t changed. If I’m aiming to be the best, then I want to lift other people up with me. I refuse to shove others down to get to the top. I refuse to be like Bakugo.’

Izuku only rested his hand on the burned, left side of his neck and nodded.

-

At the end of the school day, Izuku stood up with a sigh, preparing to go talk with Aizawa about his quirk. Ochako was standing stock-still by the edge of the classroom, and when he looked past her, he saw a giant crowd loitering outside of 1-A’s door.

‘How did I not hear them? I need to get out of my head.’

“What’s going on?” Ochako asked, tilting her head. “Can we help you guys?”

“Tch, isn’t it obvious, Round-face? They’re scoping out the competition. We’re the class that survived a villain attack. Makes sense that they’d want a look before the Sports Festival.” Bakugo shoved his way past them all, sneering at the crowd as he said, “Not that there’s any point. Move aside, cannon fodder.”

“Man, you really are as much of an asshole as I’ve heard,” Shinsou’s familiar voice called out. Izuku snorted when he saw his friend’s wild, purple hair peeking out above the crowd as he made his way to the front of the group. “If I didn’t know any better, then I’d probably assume you were all like him.”

Shinsou looked over Izuku’s class, smiling and nodding at those he knew. “You know, the Sports Festival is an opportunity for those of us who didn’t pass the entrance exam to get into the hero course. The opposite is also true. I’m sure most of you don’t feel too threatened by a general education kid like me, but I’ve been using Midoriya’s training regimen from Hell since before the term even started.”

“Oh my God, there’s another one,” Kaminari whimpered.

“Consider this a declaration of war.”

Another voice called out, saying, “Hey! I’m from class 1-B, right next door. Heard you guys already fought villains and wanted to hear more, but all I’m seeing is this arrogant bastard. You better not make fools of the hero course during the Sports Festival!”

Izuku stepped forward with a placating smile, bowing before the silver-haired student. When he stood back up, he chuckled and said, “I apologize for Bakugo’s behavior. He’s like a rabid dog.”

“Deku, you piece of--”

“He’s not quite housebroken yet, I’m afraid. We’re working on him,” Izuku continued, cutting Bakugo off.

Shinsou choked on a laugh, and the silver-haired student guffawed as he said, “Your class has one too, huh? I look forward to fighting you guys!”

Bakugo screamed incoherently before starting to shove through the crowd. “Dude, what are you doing?! You’re gonna have a whole mob of haters at this point.”

Izuku watched as Bakugo turned back to Kirishima, simply saying, “I don’t give a shit. I’m heading for the top. Why should I care what anyone else thinks?”

Bakugo left after that, and Izuku listened as some of his classmates agreed with what Bakugo said while others were arguing against it. ‘It’s one thing to be aiming for the top, but it’s another entirely to disregard everyone around you. How is he expecting to get to the top anyway? Public approval ratings are a big part of the rankings.’

Shaking his head slightly, Izuku looked out over the crowd as he said, “I look forward to competing with you all! Let’s all do our best, yeah?”

The vast majority of the students seemed appeased by that, a few even thanking Izuku for what he did in the cafeteria. He apologized to them all when he had to leave, telling them that he had a meeting with his homeroom teacher in a few minutes. Thankfully, they parted to let him and the rest of his class through, and Izuku made it to the teacher’s lounge just in time.

“Um, Aizawa-sensei?” he asked, peeking his head in sheepishly. The voice he heard wasn’t who he expected it to be.

“Hey there, listener! You looking for Shou?”

‘I didn’t realize that Aizawa-sensei and Mic-sensei were friends.’ Izuku nodded. “Mhmn! He wanted to talk about my quirk.”

“Ah, yeah! I remember him mentioning that. I hear we have you to thank for Shou being as uninjured as he was after the USJ.” Present Mic walked over toward the door, resting his hand on Izuku’s head as he lightly ruffled his hair. “You were super brave, Midoriya.”

“But it was a fluke, really. And it’s not like I kept him from being hurt at all…”

“You’ve only been a student here for a few days,” Present Mic chided. “No one expects you to be perfect. You’re doing well! You’ve just gotta keep at it.”

Izuku nodded, mumbling, “Okay. I’ll do my best.”

“I know you will, listener. Shou went to make coffee, but he’ll be back in a minute! You can sit down if you want to; I was about to head out anyway.”

Once Present Mic had gone back to pick up his papers and left the teacher’s lounge with a wave, Izuku did just that, sitting down on the couch and texting his mom to let her know he’d be home late today.

“Oh good, you’re already here.”

Izuku jolted when Aizawa’s voice called out from the doorway, flushing with embarrassment at the obvious reaction.

“Now, I read your file once you were put into my class, but when I saw that your entry in the quirk registry was updated, I assumed it was a more technical detail. Clearly, that was a mistake.”

Shoulders hunched up to his ears, Izuku asked, “That’s not a problem, is it?”

“No. It just means that we have to do things a bit differently with you. Most of the students here have already found their upper limits and have to work on increasing that limit, but you’re still feeling out the limitations of your quirk. Do you have any idea where you’re at right now?”

“I think I’m at about 15% on the general enhancer application of my quirk. Letting more energy than that flow through me hurts too much for it to be worth it, but I can tell that I’ll be able to push it further later. How far I can go with Abyssal Whips depends on my emotional state; they’re very reactionary.”

Izuku allowed a little wisp of Blackwhip to form, watching as the shadowy tendril vibrated slightly as it weaved between his fingers. “I’m a bit nervous, so they’re acting like this right now. The only reason they were so destructive at the USJ was because I was terrified. Once I calmed down, they were very cooperative. I’ll just have to be careful using them in stressful situations.”

“Got any idea how you managed them the first time? Might help us figure out what else you can do.”

Izuku nodded. “That nomu… it was too strong. I could tell just by looking at it that I couldn’t do a thing to it, but I couldn’t just stand there and watch it hurt you either. Abyssal Whips just happened. I think that I might be able to store and use different types of energy in different ways? I’m not sure.” In retrospect, Izuku was very lucky that Blackwhip didn’t take physical damage. The thought of that nomu breaking the tendrils somehow and that pain transferring to Izuku’s body… He shuddered.

“Well, I won’t say that I’m not grateful, but be more careful in the future, okay? The teachers are meant to protect the students, not the other way around.”

Izuku nodded, knowing full well that he’d do no such thing. The reason that he got One for All still stung, but he wasn’t going to hold this kind of power and not use it to help people.

“Don’t forget that you’re the representative for the first-years. Find time to write a speech in between your training sessions.”

Izuku smirked and said, “I haven’t forgotten. My speech is already done, actually.”

Aizawa cocked an eyebrow at him before shrugging. “That makes it easier. Go Plus Ultra, kid. Good luck.”

-

“Is everyone ready? We’ll probably be called out soon.” Izuku looked over his classmates after asking this question, chuckling as he listened to a couple of them grumble about not being allowed to wear their costumes. He hadn’t needed to ask --it was clear that everyone was just waiting now-- but it made him feel better to do so anyway.

“Midoriya.”

Izuku hummed as he turned to face Todoroki, tilting his head. “Yeah? What is it?”

“You… It’s undeniable that you’re one of the strongest in the class. First the quirk apprehension test and then the USJ…” Todoroki gave Izuku a considering look. “All Might’s keeping a close eye on you, isn’t he? I’m not gonna pry about why that is, but even still, I will beat you.”

‘Ugh, someone has already noticed, huh?’

“Declarations of war from within the class too now?! You guys are all so intense,” Kaminari snickered, grinning as he started sparking off excess electricity. “It’s got me excited too!”

Kirishima reached for Todoroki’s shoulder, but the latter just brushed him off. “Come on, man. Don’t go picking a fight right before we go out there!”

“I don’t care. I’m not here to make friends.”

Izuku’s eyes narrowed. Despite his excellent poker face, something in Todoroki’s voice sounded sad when he said that. ‘Oh, I’m gonna befriend the fuck out of you.’

“Todoroki, I think you misunderstand something.”

“Hm?”

“On my own, I’m nothing that special. I’m inexperienced with my quirk. I use a lot of support items that I’m not allowed to have here. I still can’t use even close to the full extent of what I have figured out--”

“You don’t have to be so negative, Midoriya,” Kirishima cut in.

“But! It’s my friends that push me forward. They encourage me, help me grow, and teach me things about myself that I never would’ve realized otherwise.”

Izuku looked Todoroki in the eye as he said, “You’re declaring war on the wrong person. I couldn’t care less about rankings or a place on the podium. I only want to help people.”

Todoroki finally lost his composure, eyes widening at Izuku’s words. They were called to the stadium before the dual-haired boy could say anything, but Izuku couldn’t miss the way that Todoroki looked at him like he couldn’t quite believe what he saw.

“First up! You all know who I’m talking about! The miraculous rising stars who brushed off a villain attack with their steely willpower, 1-A!”

The sheer number of spectators was intimidating and their cheers were deafening. 

“And we’re expected to put on the best performance we can despite the crowd… I suppose this is simply another skill required to become heroes,” Iida declared.

“They’re giving us way too much credit,” Kirishima mumbled. “But we won’t let it shake us, right?!”

Bakugo scoffed. “Damn right. It only gets me more pumped up.”

“Then we have 1-B! You may not know them yet, but these rising stars are full of potential too!” Izuku looked over the other hero course, nodding at the silver-haired guy with a smile.

“Following 1-B, we have 1-C, 1-D, and 1-E from the general education department! And then the support courses, 1-F, 1-G, and 1-H!”

‘Yikes, you can definitely tell who everyone is here to watch. I can’t blame the other classes for being upset about it.’

Midnight cracked her whip, silencing all the muttering students. “Now, for the athlete’s oath! Your student representative is 1-A’s Izuku Midoriya!”

He gulped, clenching his fists as he walked up to the stage. All eyes were on him right now, so as he stopped in front of the microphone, he took a deep breath, steeled himself, and said, “The Sports Festival, historically, focuses on the hero students. I’m standing here today to say that isn’t fair.”

Izuku looked out over his fellow first-years, smiling at the shocked expressions of several general education and support students. “Every single one of us worked hard to be here. 1-A isn’t better than 1-B because we survived a villain attack. Those of us in hero courses aren’t better than those of you in the general education, support, or management --yes, I see you all in the stands-- courses. We’re all part of the next generation. We’re all walking toward the future together, so let’s do our best to make it a better one, okay? I look forward to working with you all! Have fun, and go beyond…”

“PLUS ULTRA!!”

Midnight gave him an approving nod as he stepped off the stage, and the happiness he could see on the faces of the other classes reassured him that he’d made the right choice. “Well, after that rousing speech, let’s not waste any time!”

A blank hologram popped up, and everyone in the stadium stared at it in anticipation. “The first event is the qualifier round! This is the stage that sends so many people home crying each year, and this year’s event is…” Midnight pointed to the hologram.

‘An obstacle course! That shouldn’t be too difficult for me at all…’

“It’s a race between all classes! The obstacle course is a four-kilometer lap that wraps around the stadium itself, and as long as you don’t go off the course, anything is fair game. Racers, to your positions!”

Everyone moved to stand in front of that gate, and Izuku narrowed his eyes as he studied the size of it. ‘The first obstacle, huh? It’s too narrow for everyone to go through easily.’

“Start!”

Izuku jumped above the crowd with One for All active, tsking when he saw Todoroki rush forward in a trail of ice that left several students stuck. He activated Blackwhip too, using the shadowy tendrils to propel himself forward and shatter the ice in the corridor. 

“Good luck!” he called down to them. As expected, no one in 1-A was caught off guard by Todoroki’s first move, and Izuku grinned when he saw that Shinsou had avoided it too. Blackwhip reached down to grab his friend and bring him up in the air with him, and Shinsou’s startled yell had Izuku laughing before he could restrain himself.

“Warn a guy, will you?!”

Present Mic’s excited yell echoed throughout the stadium. “Talk about a dramatic start! Todoroki tried to leave his opponents out in the cold, but 1-A’s reaction time was too fast! The icy path he left behind was smashed to pieces by Midoriya, freeing those who were trapped by it before. What’s with that assistance in a competition?!”

“Midoriya did the same during the entrance exam and scored the highest of all applicants. He wouldn’t see any reason to stop being a team player now,” Aizawa said dryly.

“Well, let’s see how they deal with the first obstacle… Robo Inferno!”

‘Even more robots? At least I know how to deal with… these.’  Izuku gaped in horror as he took in that, beyond the ordinary robots, there were about a dozen zero-pointers as well. Everyone paused as they looked up at them, and Shinsou looked like he was regretting everything that led him to this moment as Izuku put him down beside him. 

‘I don’t think that 15% of One for All is going to be enough to damage these monstrosities. Blackwhip though…’

“So these are the faux villains that they used for everyone else’s test…” Todoroki muttered, ice already beginning to swirl around him.

Yaoyorozu looked concerned as she asked, “Where did they find all the money for these?”

‘Honestly, I want to know the same thing. This is a bit excessive.’

With a single move, Todoroki froze the zero-pointers on either side of him. The robots groaned and creaked as Todoroki rushed through, and Izuku could see Todoroki’s strategy with that move now. Several students tried to take advantage of the gap that he left behind, but Izuku used Blackwhip to jerk them all back --including an overzealous Kirishima and the silver-haired guy from 1-B-- just before the robots crashed to the ground.

“1-A’s Todoroki is busting through and sabotaging others in one move! Talk about ice cold!”

“Thanks for the assist, Midoriya!” Kirishima called out as Izuku brought all of the tendrils back to him. He danced around, sparking green as he took down several of the easy robots first, falling back to protect those who were struggling against them.

‘Robots can malfunction. I will not give them the chance to.’ 

“Down low didn’t work for 1-A’s Bakugo, so he took the high road! Smart move!”

Tokoyami turned to Izuku with a questioning glance, received a nod, and joined Sero in chasing after Bakugo in the skies. Izuku grinned, knowing that what he was about to do would piss off the explosive blond beyond belief. 

Izuku leapt with One for All active, boosting his jump by striking the ground beneath him with Blackwhip. Once he had landed on top of one of the zero-pointers, Izuku turned back to where so many students were stuck fighting, including some of his own classmates. Dozens of tendrils snaked out of him, aiming for the center light on the x’s of the zero-pointer’s faces and striking. The red glow on their faces died as they stopped moving, and Izuku gave a jaunty wave before moving on.

“What?! What are you feeding your kids, Eraser? Midoriya just took out the rest of the zero-pointers on his own!”

“That one came like that, Mic.”

“Well, if the first obstacle was so easy, then we’ll see how you fare with the second! Fall and you’re out! Good luck crawling the ropes from platform to platform in The Fall!”

Izuku kept running forward, jumping and using Blackwhip as tethers to the platform he was aiming for. He was still behind Todoroki and Bakugo, but he wasn’t aiming to pass them anyway. ‘It’d be too much trouble. I want everyone to get the chance to show off what they’ve got, though, so I’ll let them handle this on their own now. With the nets I can see down there, this is a much safer obstacle than the robots.’

“Yo, Midoriya!” Izuku grinned as he sent Blackwhip to pick Shinsou up again, using two tendrils to anchor them to platforms now to account for the added weight.

“Not complaining about the weird shadow tentacles now, are you?”

“Yeah, yeah, you and I both know it’s better for them to underestimate me.”

Izuku nodded. “No need to reveal your quirk if you don’t have to. Save that for the inevitable one-on-ones.”

They moved more slowly with the two of them --it was a bit difficult to time the launches right and keep them from hitting the ground so hard they ate dirt-- but Izuku was having the time of his life. ‘I love flying. Being up in the air is so freeing. I wish I could do this more often.’

Izuku felt a foreign buzz of warmth and contentment well up within him. He sat Shinsou down on the other side of the chasm, wondering why that feeling was so familiar before realizing something. ‘Wait a second, that was almost like when Blackwhip...’

“Go ahead, Midoriya! I’ve got it from here,” Shinsou called out, and Izuku didn’t hesitate to do just that, mind racing.

“Hello, Nine.” Izuku glanced to his left as he ran forward, seeing a woman with a glowing, white aura floating by his side. “I’m Nana Shimura, also known as Seven!”

“And our leader has reached the final barrier! That is to say, he’s just reached The Minefield! A quick glance will reveal the mines’ locations, so keep both eyes open and watch your step. They’re not deadly, of course, but they still pack quite the punch!”

‘Todoroki is really going full-throttle, huh? Wait. If you’re Seven, then doesn’t that mean that you’re All Might’s…?’

“I was his mentor, yes,” she said with a warm smile that only made that more obvious. “I’m sorry that he’s trying to push his image of a hero on you. He chose to become the Symbol of Peace, but many wielders of One for All never rose particularly high in the rankings. We want to help you become the kind of hero that you want to be.”

‘Thank you. That means a lot.’ Izuku hated feeling like he was letting All Might down by just being himself, but he didn’t want to lose who he was by becoming a second All Might either. ‘Do you think he’ll…?’

“Toshinori is… stubborn. He’s had a certain image in his head of his successor for a long time now. It’ll probably take time for him to adjust to the fact that you’re your own person with your own dreams and goals, as bad as it sounds. He means well, but I don’t think that he’d understand why you…”

‘Want to save even villains?’

Shimura sighed. “Yes. You have a compassion for people that is rare in this world, Nine. Very few people in your shoes would have chosen to save Bakugo. You could’ve walked away.”

‘It wouldn’t have been right, though. Everyone deserves to be saved. In that moment, it didn’t matter what he’d done to me before. Someone was crying out for help and no one else was answering that call. I couldn’t possibly ignore it.’

“Never lose that passion, Nine,” Shimura said, sounding immeasurably proud of him “Anyway, you’re probably wondering why I showed up now, right?”

Izuku nodded, green sparking across his form as he rushed toward the minefield.

“You said you wanted to fly, didn’t you? My quirk, Float, will let you do just that. Before One for All, it just let me levitate, but once it combined with it, well…”

‘No way! That’s so cool!’

“Now, why don’t you go prove that helping people along the way doesn’t hinder you, huh? And keep an eye out for the Todoroki kid. He seems like someone whose heart needs saving.”  

Shimura floated up with Izuku as he leapt into the air, and she stood beside him as he hovered, eyes shining in awe. ‘This is the coolest quirk ever!!’

“Lean into the direction you want to fly. You’ll move fast, so be careful not to go outside of the obstacle course. Maybe keep Blackwhip on standby just in case.”

“What’s this?! While we were busy watching 1-A’s Bakugo and Todoroki fight over the minefield, 1-A’s Midoriya started hovering mid-air! I don’t see any signs of his whips either!”

Izuku leaned forward with a feral grin, taking off like a shot. He laughed and cheered, and while he could hear Present Mic screeching, the words were drowned out by the wind rushing past him. Nana smiled as she flew alongside him, giving him a thumbs up and fading as he approached the end of the race. 

He looked down as he started flying over the minefield, smirking as he watched Bakugo and Todoroki slow each other down as they fought over first place. Izuku overtook them both.

“A last-minute upset out of nowhere! Midoriya has flown into first place, literally! Since when could the kid do that?!”

Todoroki and Bakugo looked up at him --eyes wide and abandoning their fight-- as he raced forward, but they were too late. 

“Who would’ve guessed it?! The first one to make it back to the stadium is none other than Izuku Midoriya!”

He slowly lowered himself to the ground, smiling as he cried with joy. ‘I did it! I said I was here in my own way, and I proved that I wasn’t weak for it either!’

Izuku felt like he could sing with joy. Within him, One for All did.

Chapter Text

It was going to take longer than usual for the obstacle race to conclude, and Izuku knew that was because most of the students were actually getting to finish it this year. ‘I wasn’t angling for more rest time when I helped them, but I’ll take it.’

“So the second event is always a team thing, right?” Ochako asked him, and her pleased smirk made it clear what she wanted.

“Yep. The events change, but the general layout is always the same. Mass elimination, team event, one-on-ones. You know that everyone is going to be going after me in this round, right?” He wouldn’t deny wanting to work with Ochako here, but he wanted his friends to shine. If she thought that she’d be better off on another team…

“Like I care about that. We’re a great team! Besides, think of how Zero Gravity and your new flying thing could work together! The possibilities are endless!”

“Since when--” Shinsou panted as he joined them, glaring at Izuku. “Since when could you fucking fly, Midoriya?!”

“Oh, Shinsou… You’ll learn to roll with these things eventually. Izuku is just a force of nature. No one knows what he’s gonna do next.” Ochako carefully lifted her pinky as she reached up and patted Shinsou’s shoulder consolingly.

“I figured it out while taking us over that chasm, actually,” Izuku snickered. “So thank you for your contribution.”

“Menaces. You’re both menaces,” Shinsou hissed. “I was gonna join you guys for the second round, but…”

Izuku waved him off. “It’ll suit you better to not have that spotlight on you, I know. Don’t worry about it.”

Hagakure joined them not too long after, exhausted but satisfied by her accomplishment. “I made the cutoff, right? I hope wanting to do this on my own didn’t knock me out of the running…”

“You should be fine. I’ve been keeping count, and you’re the 38th person to finish. They always let at least forty students --usually a few more-- through to the second event, enough for both hero classes in their entirety,” Izuku reassured her. 

“Oh, phew! Hey Shinsou, do you wanna team up? I think we could really mess with people.”

Shinsou smirked as he said, “You read my mind.”

“We’ll slip right beneath the radar. They’ll never see us coming, and if they do, then it’ll be too late.” Hagakure giggled with delight, gleefully beginning to plot with Shinsou. 

Though the school wouldn’t allow Hagakure to wear her costume, they did give her an alternate form of the gym uniform that had shorts instead of pants and no sleeves. She had been delighted at the prospect of tripping people up this way, and she was one of three people in their friend group --the other two being Izuku and Ochako-- who already knew about Shinsou’s quirk. It made perfect sense for them to work together.

They all chatted idly as more students crossed the finish line, long past the cutoff point but still satisfied that they finished. 

“Hey, Midoriya!” Izuku turned to the general education student that called his name. “Thanks! It would’ve sucked to be stuck at the start. You’re not so bad for a hero student.”

“Happy to help!” he said cheerily. “I hope you had fun!”

“We did! Good luck with the next round, Midoriya!” They all waved farewell as they walked back toward the stands, and Izuku smiled as he watched them go.

“Always so popular,” Shinsou snickered. “I think my classmates like you better than me.”

“And that’s that!” Midnight yelled, pausing to let the stadium’s cheers die down. “The last of our contestants have crossed the finish line, so let’s reveal the final results!”

Izuku looked up to the scoreboard, smiling when he saw that his whole class had made it through, if only barely.

“The top 42 from this qualifying round will move on! But for those of you who placed lower, don’t worry. We’ve got recreational games after this round that’ll still let you show your stuff!” Midnight looked over the crowd of students going through to this round, smirking as she said, “And so, the main selection truly begins. Everyone is gonna be watching you closely, so give it all you’ve got!”

A familiar hologram phased into existence, blank just like it was before the obstacle course race. “It’s time for the second event! Wondering what it could possibly be? Well, next up is a cavalry battle!”

Izuku’s eyes lit up. ‘Oh, this is perfect. Even as far as team challenges go, this couldn’t be a better scenario for us.’

“Participants will form teams of two to four members of their choosing, getting into a horse-and-rider formation. You’ve gotta work together to snag the headbands from other teams while guarding your own. Of course, each person has their own point value… And it was assigned to them based on their ranking on the last event!”

‘I’m gonna be target number one, huh? That’s fine; I expected that.’ 

“Your individual point values start at five points for 42nd place, increasing by five for each rank above that. With one notable exception.”

‘And here comes the twist that gives everyone a chance to win…’ UA was surprisingly formulaic about these things. Izuku knew what he had been getting himself into when he crossed the finish line first, even if he wouldn’t have thought to do so without Shimura’s nudging.

“Our first place participant is worth ten million points!! Aim for the students with higher rankings to turn things around! This round is perfect for making a comeback. It’s anybody’s game!”

Several of his classmates turned to Izuku with a glint in their eyes, but Ochako stood by his side and glared back. ‘From the looks of things, we won’t be able to count on Iida or Yaoyorozu as team members. Shinsou and Hagakure will probably work alone, and Ochako and I can always do the same if necessary…’

“The match will last 15 minutes! Each team’s points is the sum of its individual members, and each rider will wear their team’s headband, displaying their total point value. Headbands have to be worn at the neck or higher, including those that you steal from other teams. The more that you have, the more difficult they’ll be to manage!”

‘Hm, I see. Everyone is going to be going after me from the start, so if it’s possible…’

“Most importantly, even if your headband is taken and your formation is broken, it’s not over til the time runs out! You can get back in the game!”

Izuku smirked, and a plan was already beginning to form. 

“Quirks are allowed, so this will be a brutal battle. However, this is still a cavalry battle, so attacking another team with the intent of making them fall will get you a red card. If you do that, then you really will be out of the battle! Now, you’ve got fifteen minutes to form your teams.”

Izuku looked over to Tokoyami and asked, “You wanna be on our team? You and Dark Shadow work well with Ochako and I’s mobility, and I can always power Dark Shadow up with Abyssal Whips too…”

“You are one with the darkness. It would be my honor to dance among the shadows with you.”

“Who’s gonna be the horse, Izuku?”

He looked at Ochako before saying, “I’d probably be our best option. I can use Abyssal Whips best if I’m not carrying people, and there aren’t any rules against turning this into an air battle…”

Ochako’s eyes shone. “I could lighten our team and you could fly us all up! A bunch of teams wouldn’t be able to reach us at all that way!”

“What a mad banquet of darkness…”

‘Hm, now let’s see if we can get someone else.’ 

Suddenly, a pink-haired girl that was decked out in gadgets rushed their group. ‘A support student? Now there’s an idea…’

“You’re sure to stand out in first place, Mr. Ten Million! Team up with me.”

“What’ve you got for us?”

The girl lifted up her goggles and pulled out several gadgets. “A discerning customer, I see. I’m Mei Hatsume! I’ve got all sorts of super cute babies to show off to the world, and joining your spotlight means that more potential investors will see them. I recognize you from your costume drawing, you know? You and Uraraka both wanted actual tech in your costumes; someone in support always appreciates heroes like that! I’m sure that some of my babies will be useful to you.”

Izuku hummed before saying, “You’re in. We might not be in the spotlight the whole time, but I’ve got a plan…”

Hatsume grinned. “Oh? That sounds like drama, and drama always sells well. It’ll be nice doing business with you, Midoriya.”

They shook hands, and Hatsume began distributing gear to people as they discussed strategy. Her echoing laughter had several students backing away from their group in fear.

-

“Your fifteen minutes are up! I hope that you’re all happy with your teams; it’s too late to change them now.”

Izuku loosely tied his headband around his head, grinning down at his team. Tokoyami was the front horse, and he and Dark Shadow would act as their first line of defense and as a way to steer in the air. Ochako was wearing Hatsume’s jet boots as she kept at least one hand on Tokoyami’s shoulder at all times. Hatsume was wearing her jetpack --which was, by her own admission, more difficult to fly with than the boots-- and had her goggles down, amplifying her quirk, Zoom. She was going to be keeping an eye on which headbands wound up with which teams.

Present Mic’s voice filled the stadium. “Hey, it’s time to wake up, Eraser! All twelve teams are lined up and ready to move.”

Aizawa’s hum was picked up by the microphone. “They’ve come up with some interesting combinations…”

“Are you all ready?! It’s the countdown to a brutal battle royal!”

Izuku brought his right hand up to his headband, grinning as he tightened his grip. The team with the silver-haired student from 1-B and Jirou’s team were both eyeing his group up, not even being subtle about their plan of attack.

“Three! Two! One! Start!”

‘Let’s see how you like this.’ Izuku ripped his headband off, throwing it in front of his group as they took to the sky. Thanks to a combination of Float and Hatsume’s gear, Ochako only had to negate Tokoyami’s gravity to get them off the ground. The other teams scrambled to grab the fluttering headband.

“What’s this?! Team Midoriya immediately ditched their headband! What could they be thinking?!”

“It’s a valid strategy,” Aizawa said with a deadpan tone. “They would be targeted the entire time if they kept ten million points. And with the other teams desperately going after that headband…”

Izuku cackled as he sent Blackwhip after Bakugo, grabbing his 665 point headband as the explosive blond was barely beat to the ten million points by Todoroki. He fastened their team’s new headband around his head, and they could all hear Bakugo’s enraged screaming from their place in the sky.

“Midoriya’s team had the chance to take a headband with less risk attached to it,” Aizawa concluded.

Izuku’s strategy was twofold. First, they would ditch the ten million points right away. After that, they would take Bakugo’s headband away from him, ensuring that he would be gunning for their team the entire time. Their main focus was keeping him busy until the end, and then they’d go back for their points once time was almost up.

‘Bakugo is a threat. If it was anyone else, then he’d still try to go after his headband before going after the ten million points, but because it’s me, he’ll be even more fixated on it. We just have to run out the clock.’

“DEKU!!”

“Sorry to turn this into a game of keep away, but…”

“We would’ve done that with the ten million anyway,” Ochako reassured him. “At least this way, it’s only Bakugo coming after us.”

“Indeed. I do not wish to face him in the one-on-ones, so eliminating him here is vital,” Tokoyami muttered.

“As long as we get to show off my babies, I don’t care!”

Bakugo blasted up toward them, reaching toward Izuku as he screamed, “Give me back my headband, you shitty--” Dark Shadow smacked Bakugo down, and Izuku used Blackwhip to ensure that he didn’t blast his way back up. Sero barely managed to grab Bakugo and pull him back into their formation before he hit the ground.

“Is leaving your formation even legal?!” Present Mic screamed.

“It is here, on a technicality. As long as the rider doesn’t touch the ground, it’s all okay!” Midnight answered, and her microphone ensured that even Izuku and his team could hear her.

“Well, well,” Izuku chuckled. “Doesn’t that sound like a beautiful loophole for a flying team?” Ochako and Hatsume both looked to each other, grinned, and let Izuku go as he used Float to rise above the rest of his team. “We don’t have to touch the ground at all.”

Izuku didn’t fly too far from his team, but he did dart around and steal the headbands from a boy who shot scales from patches on his arms and a girl who launched her horns at people. Seeing that Hagakure had taken the headband from Jirou’s team, Izuku used Blackwhip to cut them off while his friends retreated. He sneakily passed off his newest headbands to her team as well.

‘Bakugo’s headband is a high enough value that taking almost any other headband will guarantee us a spot in the next round. I don’t want our total point value to get too high until later in the game, and Hagakure’s team has a low base value. They need them more.’

“Let’s check in on our teams at the halfway point!” Present Mic called out. “Team Todoroki is still holding on to the ten million points, Team Tetsutetsu is in second, Team Hagakure is in third, and Team Midoriya is in fourth. 1-A seems to have the edge here!”

Izuku grimaced as he watched several teams turn toward Hagakure and Shinsou, clearly planning to overwhelm them with numbers and go for their points. The rest were still targeting Todoroki with the exception of Bakugo, who Izuku warded off every time he made a grab for his original headband.

He looked over the teams below him and whistled. Dark Shadow --and by extension, the rest of Izuku’s team-- joined him, and Izuku gently lowered himself back into his team’s formation. “We need to take some of the points from Tetsutetsu’s team. If it wasn’t for our original headband, then he’d have first, and we’re capable of dealing with that threat right now.”

Ochako and Hatsume looked at each other before nodding and easing off the gas. Their team tipped forward with only Tokoyami keeping them in the air, and they held on tight as Dark Shadow raced forward and dive-bombed Tetsutetsu’s team. Between Dark Shadow’s quick grab and Blackwhip, they grabbed two headbands from Team Tetsutetsu before their gear took them back into the sky.

Izuku tsked when he flipped them over and saw that they both had lower point values --290 from Team Kendo, and 215 from Team Kodai-- but Tetsutetsu’s team wouldn’t be too large a threat as long as they kept him from getting any other headbands. Now that his team was rattled by the sudden air attack, several teams broke off from Hagakure’s to target his 705 point headband instead.

“You know, I really didn’t expect 1-A to have any strategists among them, but you’ve impressed me, Midoriya.” He jerked his head to the side, eyes widening when he saw a floating, detached mouth, ear, and blue eye. “You’re not only trying to win; you’re trying to control who goes through to the next match.”

“Maybe so,” Izuku admitted. “But you’re talking to me instead of attacking for a reason.”

“My name is Neito Monoma, and I want to be one of those teams. I’ll guard Hagakure’s team and pester Bakugo’s in exchange for one of those headbands.”

Izuku’s eyes narrowed, but after a few moments of deliberation, he handed over the 290 point headband with a nod. “If you don’t honor your agreement, then I hope you know I’ll ensure you don’t have a single headband by the end of this.”

“Of course, of course. I’d expect nothing less. I’ll be on my way then.”

“A deal with the devil has been made…” Tokoyami muttered. 

Monoma did honor his deal, though. Izuku and his team kept a close eye on him, watching as his team used air barriers, separated limbs, and telekinesis to keep any of Hagakure’s headbands from being taken. With their current point value being higher than that team now, they didn’t have to worry about being edged out of the competition by doing so either. Bakugo kept trying to go after Izuku, but he got batted away by floating limbs and became particularly enraged when Monoma brushed up against him and started using explosions too. He looked up at Izuku, glowered, and yelled, “You’ll be fucking dead after I deal with this copycat, Deku!”

With both of their problems suddenly dealt with, Izuku grinned and said, “Let’s go get our headband back, shall we?”

“We’ve only got a few minutes left folks! Team Todoroki is still holding onto the ten million, having shocked and frozen most of the competition. It’s looking like they won’t be moving any time soon!”

Ochako and Hatsume gently touched down in the center of a ring of ice, and Dark Shadow warily guarded their front, eyeing up Kaminari and the insulator sheet that Todoroki had been using to shield his team from friendly fire. 

Todoroki narrowed his eyes. “So you did come back for it… What happened to not caring about a place on a podium?” 

“I want to lift up my friends,” Izuku said simply. “I’m not going to let them down just because winning doesn’t matter to me.”

Ice swirled around Todoroki’s right side, and Izuku’s team shifted toward his left. ‘We’ve just gotta keep him from using his ice. He won’t do it if it’ll hit Iida in the process.’ Izuku created shade for Dark Shadow with Blackwhip, encouraging them as they blocked an electric attack from Kaminari. Yaoyorozu was on guard, using a shield to block Dark Shadow from grabbing one of Todoroki’s headbands from the front, but none of them saw a single, dark tendril creep behind them.

The headband on Todoroki’s forehead clearly had the number 615 emblazoned across it. Even with the one around his neck being turned inside out, Izuku knew which one he needed to go for. They didn’t notice anything was wrong until it was too late.

Todoroki startled, fire flaring up on his left as Izuku gave him a feral grin. Blackwhip jerked back with its spoils, and Izuku fastened his original headband around his neck right away, not wanting to risk the time running out.

“There’s only one minute left, and Team Midoriya just stole back their headband! Team Todoroki just dropped from first to fifth in an instant.”

Iida’s engines started glowing blue. “I’ll be useless after this, so Todoroki… Grab it!!” he shouted.

“Let me go!” Izuku screamed, and Ochako and Hatsume immediately did so.

“Over Torque… Recipro Burst!!” Iida moved in the blink of an eye, and Izuku could barely fly away quickly enough to avoid Todoroki grabbing one of the headbands around his neck. When Izuku looked more closely at Todoroki, he saw something in his eyes that he didn’t expect.

It was fear.

‘He seems like someone whose heart needs saving, huh?’ 

Izuku didn’t have much time. He grabbed the headband with 215 written across it, took it off his neck, and gave it to one of his tendrils, handing the points over.

“You… why?” Todoroki asked, eyes wide as he put the headband around his neck.

“It seemed like the right thing to do.”

“TIMES UP!” Present Mic yelled, and Izuku sagged with relief. Everyone started breaking formation, relaxing now that it was over. ‘Sorry, Tokoyami. I know you were hoping not to see Kaminari in the next stage, but…’

“It’s time to see our top four teams! In first place, Team Midoriya with 10,000,990 points! In second place, Team Monoma with 955 points! In third place, Team Todoroki with 830 points! And in fourth place, Team Hagakure with 825 points! Wait, don’t we need sixteen participants in the next round?”

Midnight nodded from her place on the podium. “As the only other team with points remaining, Team Tetsutetsu will send two representatives from their team to fill in those places. Who will it be?”

In the end, a girl with vines for hair and a boy with a permanent grin was put forward, though Tetsutetsu --it was nice to finally put a name to the silver-haired boy’s face-- seemed disappointed in himself.

“Then that’s it!” Present Mic cheered. “Our sixteen finalists, folks! We’ll be taking an hour-long lunch break before getting to the final event, so stay tuned!”

“Midoriya.”

“Hm?” Izuku turned to Todoroki, tilting his head in question.

“Do you… Can we talk?”

-

Once Izuku and Todoroki were hidden from sight, Izuku looked over Todoroki with a carefully calm expression. He hid it well, but Izuku was far too used to fear’s effects to not see it on the dual-haired boy. 

Todoroki was trembling.

“What did you want to talk about?” Izuku asked, keeping his tone gentle. He wasn’t sure what had Todoroki so shaken, but Izuku could see what Shimura meant now. There was something weighing on his classmate. Something awful.

“You overwhelmed me. So much so that I broke my own pledge.” Todoroki clenched his fist, looking up at Izuku as he asked, “Why would someone with so much power give points away like that? Not just with me, but with Hagakure and Monoma too. I don’t get you, Midoriya.”

Izuku chuckled softly. “Most people don’t. It would’ve been pretty boring if I just took all the points and stayed up in the sky with them, right? I could have, but that would limit the chances of other people getting internships. I’d be pushing them down and climbing over them, and I refuse to do that.”

“You… you reach out to people. You save them in a way that leaves no question that they’ll be saved. Even students outside of our class see you and are reassured. It’s almost like…” Shouto’s eyes narrowed as he asked, “Midoriya, are you All Might’s secret love-child or something?”

Izuku snorted and shook his head. “No.”

“You seem uncomfortable around him.” 

Izuku paled slightly. ‘Is it really that obvious? I thought that I was hiding it well but… Wait, then why would he assume All Might was my father?’

“I won’t pry, but I will listen if you want. I understand all too well the pressure that can come from those at the top.”

‘That’s… I don’t like the sound of that.’

“You know that my father is Endeavor, right? He’s… a bastard that cares about nothing but strength and becoming more powerful. Endeavor has been number two for the last 25 years, but he’s never been satisfied with that. He wants to surpass All Might. He didn’t think he could do it on his own, though, so he came up with another plan.”

Izuku’s eyes widened. He looked at Todoroki’s haunted, hurting eyes, thought about how odd it was that his quirk was so perfectly balanced, and felt sick at the implications of that.

“Todoroki… You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but I want you to know that I’ll listen too. I’ll believe you, whatever it is that you say.”

Todoroki’s eyes softened, seeming to understand Izuku’s partial admission.  “You’ve heard of quirk marriages, right?” Izuku nodded as his heart fell to the floor. “They were common during the second and third generations of quirk users. Powerful individuals choosing a partner and forcing them into the marriage solely to produce more powerful quirks… My father did just that. He swayed my mother’s family with his wealth and fame, all to get ahold of her ice quirk.”

Izuku clenched his teeth, feeling rage swell up within him. He focused on that rage because if he didn’t, then he was pretty sure that he’d burst into tears.

“He’s trained me ever since my quirk came in, aiming to make me a hero more powerful than All Might. All to fulfill his own ambitions. I hate it! I don’t want to be a tool for him!” Todoroki raised his hand, covering his scar as he said, “My mom was always crying. ‘I can’t stand that left side of yours’... That’s what she told me before throwing scalding water at my face.”

Izuku shuddered. ‘So even his mother…’

“I refuse to use my left side. It’s the only revenge I can have against him. If I can rise to the top without using it, then I’ll have denied him everything.”

They both had wildly different experiences, but there was no denying that life had dealt a cruel hand to them both. Izuku could only do what he always wished that someone would do for him. “Todoroki… If there was a way I could help you, then would you want that? Or did you just want someone to listen?”

Todoroki looked so genuinely confused that it was heartbreaking. “Help me? This is just how things are, Midoriya. I didn’t tell you this because I expected something from you.”

“You know, there’s more than one way to refuse him what he wants.”

Dual-colored eyes narrowed. “I will not use his fire.”

“It’s not his fire,” Izuku corrected idly. “Quirks are unique to each person. I understand if you don’t want to use fire --you have a lot of negative associations with it-- but please don’t handicap yourself just to get back at him. Don’t let him keep hurting you that way. There may come a day where someone needs fire to save them. A forest fire that needs to be cut off before it can burn the whole forest down. An emergency cauterization that someone will die without. Fire to keep people warm after a storm knocks out the power in winter, leaving them at risk of dying of the cold... Your father uses fire in cruel ways, but that doesn’t mean that you have to.”

“I…” Todoroki blinked at him, clearly bewildered. “You truly are determined to turn my world on its head, aren’t you?” he asked with a huff. 

“It’s what I do best,” Izuku said with a grin.

“I believe that,” Todoroki snorted. “Thank you, Midoriya. You’ve given me a lot to think about.”

“Any time. Thank you for trusting me, Todoroki. Let me know if there’s ever anything I can do for you.”

Todoroki nodded, looking distinctly uncomfortably before asking, “I… should I be worried about All Might? Why are you uncomfortable with him?” His classmate sounded genuinely concerned, and Izuku wasn’t sure if it was because he was worried about Izuku or worried about the number one hero being just as bad as his father.

‘Maybe it’s a bit of both.’ Izuku sighed before saying, “It’s nothing that bad. Something silly, really. It’s just that I… I met him once. Before I got my quirk. I asked him if someone who was quirkless could become a hero.”

“He said no.” Todoroki’s voice wavered with the realization.

Green eyes welled up with tears. Izuku sniffled as he rubbed at them, nodding before whispering, “He told me to be realistic and left me alone on a rooftop.”

The temperature of the hallway dropped several degrees. “He did what?”

Izuku had a feeling that Todoroki might do something stupid --like try trapping All Might in a glacier-- if he didn’t redirect the conversation, so he said, “I want to do everything I can to keep other people from feeling like I did that day. I want to be the hand that reaches out to help, regardless of someone’s quirk, past, or anything else. I want to be part of a generation that encourages dreams instead of destroying them.”

“Making a better future, huh?” Todoroki mumbled. “Now that’s something I can get behind. We both know how much it’s needed.”

Izuku chuckled bitterly before saying, “Here’s to walking toward it together, huh?”

“Together,” Todoroki said with a solemn nod.

They were both startled when Present Mic’s voice called out over the intercom, saying, “We’ve got twenty minutes left of the lunch break! Don’t forget to head back to your seats before the recreational events start!”

“We should probably go get something before it’s too late, huh?”

“Yeah… Do you mind if I…?”

Izuku beamed at Todoroki’s hesitant question. “You can eat lunch with us if you want! Come on!”

They made it to the cafeteria just in time to grab and eat something before they needed to be back in the arena. Shinsou teased Izuku for taking in another stray, but everyone welcomed Todoroki with open arms. 

Neither of them knew that someone had been listening in on their earlier conversation, but Izuku did notice that Bakugo seemed oddly shaken when he spotted him in the cafeteria. Izuku just assumed it was because Bakugo hadn’t made it to the next round and shrugged it off.

He was distracted by the smile tugging at Todoroki’s lips as he talked with them all, looking happier than Izuku could ever remember seeing him.

Chapter Text

The sixteen competitors in the final event drew lots to decide who was going against who. Izuku couldn’t complain --it was the fairest way to split things up-- but it did mean that he was going against one of the students from 1-B.

‘Honenuki, huh? I’ll have to be careful; I’m not sure what he can do.’ 

Everyone went their separate ways to prepare for their matches. Some people set off to relax on their own while others participated in the recreational events to calm their nerves. Izuku sat in a prep room and worked through strategies that combined One for All, Blackwhip, and Float. ‘If all else fails, then I can just use Float to stay out of his reach.’

Izuku walked out of the prep room and into the hallway that led out into the stadium, leaning against the wall as he waited for Present Mic to start the event. He clenched his fists nervously, muttering to himself as he said, “I know that I can do this, but there’s something more nerve-wracking about the one-on-ones. Maybe it’s because helping others is directly against the rules. Maybe it’s because I know that everyone who made it this far is going to put up a good fight, even if I helped them get here. I’ll just have to do my best and be happy with that.”

“You’ve got this, my boy.”

Izuku startled at All Might’s quivering voice, whirling around to see the hero in his small form. When he looked closely, Izuku could see that All Might had tears in his eyes and a pale face. Izuku politely ignored that and asked, “Do you really think so?”

“I do. I see that you figured out another use for One for All…”

‘Oh. Shimura was his mentor, so of course he would recognize her quirk.’ He could tell All Might that she spoke to him, but something told him that would be a bad idea. All Might hadn’t even told Izuku about his mentor; the last thing Izuku wanted to do was force him to confront old memories. ‘Besides, it would be crueler to tell him that she’s still here. He wouldn’t be able to see her or talk to her anyway. Better that he thinks that it’s just the quirks stored within One for All.’

“I was just thinking about how much I liked flying --or my previous approximation of it-- and then I actually was flying. I don’t know why One for All is acting like this for me, but I’m trying to roll with the punches.”

“And you’ve been doing that remarkably well. I’ll try to look into the past users of One for All to figure out what’s happening here, but I think I have an idea of what this is...”

“Okay” Izuku agreed with a nod. “But for now, I’ll just use the 15% of One for All that I can manage, Abyssal Whips, and Flight to make my mark. We’ll worry about anything else when it happens.”

All Might nodded shakily before he walked away, muttering lowly under his voice about the past users and researching their quirks. ‘Not that I don’t already know what’s going on, but I’ll let him come to his own conclusions. He doesn’t usually listen to what I tell him anyway.’

“Are you all ready?!” Present Mic’s voice echoed throughout the stadium. It’s time for the one-on-one tournament! You’ve only got yourself to rely on. Even if you’re not a hero, this saying holds true! You all know it!”

‘And I’m going to change it,’ Izuku vowed. ‘I’m going to remind people that we’re capable of amazing things when we work together.’ 

“Spirit, technique, strength, wisdom, and knowledge… Use them all and show us your best!”

‘ I don’t want to discredit anyone by not giving it my all here, but I’m worried that if I win, then All Might will assume that I’m trying to be the next Symbol of Peace… I can’t do anything about that, I guess. I’d be a hypocrite of the highest order if I let that sway me after what I said to Todoroki.’

“Contestants, please come out onto the field!”

He stepped forward into the sunlight, blushing at the volume of the stadium’s cheers. Izuku steeled his nerves, smiled, and waved to the crowd, who only got louder at that.

“It’s time for our first match! We’ve got the uncontested winner of the Sports Festival so far, 1-A’s class president: Izuku Midoriya! Versus! A member of Team Tetsutetsu that was selected to move forward, one of 1-B’s recommended students: Juuzou Honenuki!”

They both stepped forward into the ring, staying on their side as they eyed each other up. “The rules are simple. Win by knocking your opponent out of the ring, immobilizing them, or getting them to say ‘I give up’! Feel free to go all out since we’ve got Recovery Girl on standby. Don’t hesitate to fight dirty either. Ethics have no meaning here! The only thing prohibited is going for the kill, and doing so will get you disqualified. Remember that a true hero’s fists fly only in the pursuit of villains!”

Izuku tried not to grimace at Present Mic’s words, but something of it had to show on his face if Honenuki’s curious look was any indication. ‘You shouldn’t go for the kill against villains either. Heroes have a duty to protect people and training that most villains could never hope to match. There’s a reason why fights tend to be so one-sided…’

Cementoss set up a concrete throne for himself near the ring, ready to stop any contestants that took things too far. Izuku looked across the field, grinning at Honenuki as he said, “No hard feelings, right? I don’t want to create tension between our classes.”

Honenuki chuckled. “No hard feelings. Honestly, the fact that you were able to get Monoma to work with 1-A last round was proof enough of your intentions. Let’s have a good fight.”

“Ready?! START!”

Honenuki’s hands dropped to the ground immediately, and Izuku’s eyes widened as they both started to sink into the ground. ‘He’s going for immobilization then. What a useful quirk! I’ll have to ask him about it sometime.’ 

Izuku activated Float, and Honenuki rushed forward as he saw Izuku start rising. Blackwhip warded the boy off --churning the softened earth into a whirlpool that pulled the boy away from him-- until Izuku was well off the ground, grinning down at where Honenuki’s head was poking out as he let One for All crackle to life. Green lightning and black tendrils danced around him, intertwining with one another as Izuku pointed every tendril at Honenuki. It was a clear threat.

Honenuki raised his hand and slowly rose out of the ground before saying, “I forfeit. I know better than to fight a battle I can’t win.”

Midnight cracked her whip. “The first round goes to Midoriya!”

Izuku slowly lowered himself back to the ground once Honenuki had solidified it again, stepping forward and shaking his hand. “Good match. If I’d reacted a second slower…” 

“Just means I’ll have to move faster next time.”

“What a touching display of sportsmanship after an uneventful match! Stay tuned to find out who will be fighting Midoriya in the next round!”

Izuku hurried back to the stands, wanting to observe how both of his potential opponents fought before his second match. ‘I got lucky with Honenuki. I’m not going to waste the chance to gather information here.’

“You did great, Izuku!” Ochako cheered.

Iida smiled and said, “We saved you a seat.” He gestured to the place between himself and Shinsou, who had gotten permission to join them instead of the general education students.

‘Getting into the final sixteen is probably enough to get him into the hero course anyway, but his chances only go up the farther he gets. At least it shouldn’t be too hard for him to get Kaminari talking.’

Izuku sat down, sharp eyes watching as Monoma and Tsuburaba walked into the ring.

“The wait is over! We’ve got 1-B’s calculating schemer, Neito Monoma! Versus! One of his teammates in the last round, Kosei Tsuburaba!”

This match was much flashier than the last one, and the crowd was eating it up. Monoma’s arms were covered in scales that Izuku had seen one of Monoma’s classmates using during the obstacle race, and he was firing them off at Tsuburaba as he set air barriers between them in an attempt to shield himself. Unfortunately for Tsuburaba, the scales were hard enough that they could pierce those shields. Once Tsuburaba was wheezing with the effort of using his quirk, the scales on Monoma’s arms disappeared as he ran forward and landed a solid blow on Tsuburaba’s cheek. Monoma grinned as a second, invisible impact sent Tsuburaba flying out of the ring.

“Neito Monoma is our winner! He’ll be moving on to the next round!”

“I knew that he had a copy quirk, but the fact that he can store multiple quirks at once makes him incredibly versatile. I’ll have to be careful going against him. What quirks would he try to use against me? I wish I got to see more of what 1-B could do…” Izuku muttered.

Shinsou snorted as he said, “Well, I’m up next. Better get down there.”

He waved at them all as he walked out of the stands, and Izuku laughed when Todoroki took the opportunity to steal his seat. “What? I just wanted to see better,” Todoroki deadpanned. No one believed him.

A few minutes later, Present Mic’s voice echoed throughout the stadium again. “Our next match starts now! An underdog from 1-C that hasn’t really stood out yet: Hitoshi Shinsou! Versus! 1-A’s most electrifying member whose power is no joke: Denki Kaminari!”

“It’s impressive that someone from gen ed made it so far, but…” Todoroki’s voice trailed off. “At least, that’s what I might have assumed before. If he’s your friend, then he’s definitely got something up his sleeve. Your plotting rubs off on people.”

Izuku protested indignantly as everyone around them just agreed with Todoroki. “I resent that! Besides, Shinsou was already like this--”

“Then you just draw in a certain type of person.”

“What does that say about you, Todoroki?” Ochako asked with a giggle.

“That I’m the same type of person? I never denied that.”

“START!”

Kaminari started sparking, but his talkative nature got the best of him in an instant. Lightning fizzled out as the blond froze up, slowly turning around and walking out of the arena. The entire stadium was quiet for several long moments.

“T-the winner is Shinsou!” Midnight called out, blinking out of her stupor.

“What an unexpected twist! Do we even know what happened down there?!”

“I’ve been telling you that the entrance exam is illogical for years,” Aizawa scoffed. “Powerful quirks slip through the cracks just because they’re not suited to the format. Shinsou is one of those cases.”

Shinsou looked immensely pleased with himself when he rejoined them in the stands, simply taking Iida’s seat once he stood up to quickly prepare for his own match. 

“The first round’s just about halfway over everyone! Next up is one of 1-A’s legacy students, the little brother of Ingenium: Tenya Iida! Versus! Covered head-to-toe in support items that she built herself, a support student from 1-H: Mei Hatsume!”

Izuku snorted when he saw Iida step out onto the field, also covered in Hatsume’s support items. ‘I know exactly where this is going.’ Sure enough, after Iida got the okay from Midnight to use the support items since Hatsume wanted him to, the round turned into a ten-minute-long advertisement. The match only ended once Hatsume stepped out of the ring, beaming as the support investors in the stands excitedly muttered about her. 

The rest of the stadium still seemed to be in a state of shock as Midnight said, “Iida moves on to the next round!”

Hagakure and Tokoyami had already gone down to prepare for their match, and while Tokoyami was undeniably strong, Izuku had trained and experimented with the limits of Hagakure and Ochako’s quirks. ‘You were right to worry about Kaminari and Bakugo, but underestimating Hagakure is going to get you and Dark Shadow in trouble, Tokoyami.’

“Next up is a battle between two 1-A students! Invisible yet somehow still in the spotlight, Tooru Hagakure! Versus! A prince of the darkness, Fumikage Tokoyami! START!”

Their match was over in a literal flash. Hagakure’s Warp Refraction blinded Tokoyami and shrunk Dark Shadow down, and while they were both reeling from the unexpected attack, she darted in to flip them over the line. People underestimated muscles that they couldn’t see. Izuku had quickly learned that Hagakure was much stronger than people gave her credit for.

“Hagakure advances to the next round! What’s with all these quick matches?!”

‘Efficiency is important out on the field. That’s the point that Aizawa-sensei was trying to hammer home after the battle trials. Trying to make a show of things gets people killed. Even if it’s not the most entertaining thing to watch, I’m proud of my friends for doing so well.’

Yanagi versus Setsuna ended rather predictably. Setsuna’s control over her separated limbs was usurped by Yanagi’s telekinetic quirk, and a single piece of her being flung outside of the ring was all it took. Yaoyorozu versus Shiozaki took longer, exciting the crowd again as Yaoyorozu warded off vines with her shield before striking back with a potent weed killer that had Shiozaki forfeiting the match in tears.

Before he knew it, it was time for the final match of the round: Todoroki versus Ochako. Izuku watched with rapt attention as Todoroki stepped out onto the field with a troubled face, grimacing as he watched Endeavor rejoin the heroes’ section. ‘He must have talked to him. I hope that Todoroki is okay…’

“It’s time for the last match of the first round! One of the strongest students in 1-A and the son of Endeavor: Shouto Todoroki! Versus! My personal favorite, 1-A’s Ochako Uraraka! START!”

Izuku’s jaw dropped as a massive glacier erupted from Todoroki, going up and out of the arena. Ochako was grimacing, but Izuku could see flashes of pink light bouncing around inside that glacier. ‘So she’s gonna use it, huh?’

“Uraraka, can you move?” Midnight asked.

Ochako’s grimace morphed into a giant smile. The glacier started cracking, and the ground beneath it groaned as it sank down. Ice exploded everywhere, refracting the sunlight all around the stadium in a gorgeous display. Todoroki’s eyes widened as Ochako screamed, “Yeah!”

“What was that?!” Present Mic screamed. “Uraraka is unphased by Todoroki’s attack! Her spirit is too fiery to be frozen!”

Another glacier launched toward Ochako, who only grinned as she ran around it, brushed her fingers against the ice, and crushed it by increasing its gravitational pull. Izuku grinned as he watched the large, shattered pieces of ice start floating up afterward.

In the two weeks before the Sports Festival, Izuku had trained the most with Ochako. It made sense, considering that they were planning on starting a team together, and he had a bunch of theories about her quirk that he was eager to test. To both of their delight, Izuku’s realization that Ochako controlled the degree to which she affected an object’s gravity --everything she touched would float straight into space if she completely negated it, after all-- had led to the discovery that Ochako could not only lessen an object’s gravitational pull but also increase it.

‘I wonder how many people operate off of false assumptions about their quirks? Ochako most likely could always increase gravitational pull, but because she wanted to help her parents with their construction company, she probably only ever tried to make things lighter. There’s not a lot of practical applications to weighing them down more, but in this case…’

Ochako was harrying Todoroki in a way that Izuku had never seen before. Todoroki honestly looked flustered and unsure of himself here. He kept trying to keep her on the back foot, dancing around the ring as she tried to close the distance, but any attempt to trap her in the ice was crushed. Todoroki didn’t see the hail storm brewing above him. He didn’t think to look up at all until Ochako pressed her fingers together with a savage grin.

The pieces of ice falling down were various shapes and sizes, but all of them were jagged and fully capable of cutting anyone that they hit. Todoroki was already shivering, breathing out cold air as he had slowed down over the past few minutes, frost creeping over his skin. He wouldn’t be able to shield himself with a glacier, not without suffering from severe frostbite. Izuku’s eyes lit up as Todoroki --pushed into a corner and desperate-- went up in flames.

A gout of fire shot into the sky, expanding the cold air and exploding the chunks of ice that had been raining down. The blast gouged into the earth and left craters all throughout the ring as both Todoroki and Ochako stared each other down. Ochako staggered forward two steps before she fell to the ground. ‘She went past her weight limit ages ago. Increasing gravitational pull takes a lot more out of her than decreasing it does, and she was switching between the two quickly.’ 

Midnight walked onto the field, holding her hand up as Todoroki snuffed out his flames. “Uraraka is unable to continue. Todoroki will be moving on to the second round!”

“Shouto!! So you’ve finally accepted it! With my blood pumping through your veins, you will surpass me! You will fulfill my own ambitions!” Endeavor yelled. He was so loud that Izuku could hear him from the other side of the stadium. Todoroki violently twitched before schooling his expression and walking forward, bending down and holding a hand out to Ochako.

She was pale and shaking, but Ochako took that hand, letting him and Midnight help her stand. Todoroki draped her arm over his shoulder and helped her walk to the hallway leading to Recovery Girl’s station.

“Another beautiful display of sportsmanship from this year’s hero class! We’ll be back with the second round after a break; the arena needs repairing after that one, folks!”

Izuku stood up and turned to face his friends, squinting when he realized that Shinsou wasn’t there anymore. He shrugged it off and waved farewell to everyone else before running off to check on Ochako and Todoroki.

Recovery Girl worked fast. By the time that Izuku got there, they both only had a couple of small bandages that covered up scrapes they’d gotten in the battle. “You two should be fine now. Honestly, you kids go too far sometimes…” Recovery Girl muttered.

“I’m sorry, Izuku… I’m still not strong enough,” Ochako whispered.

Izuku wasn’t going to let that stand, but Todoroki beat him to it. “You’re very strong. I’ve… never had to use my fire before. Not even my father could push me to that point. You did. I almost lost.”

Ochako sniffled. She nodded as she said, “I’ll just have to do better next year.”

“Don’t be too hard on yourself. Heroes are definitely gonna see how powerful you are, Ochako. We’ve only been here for a few weeks! Your growth is already incredible, and we’re all only going to keep improving from here on out.”

The three of them walked out of the room, and Ochako and Todoroki walked Izuku to the preparation room while they waited on the arena to be fixed. Todoroki looked to the ground, eyebrows furrowing before he looked between Izuku and Ochako and said, “If I’m going to start using my fire, then I’ll need to change my costume. Could I… Would it be okay if I put golden scales on mine too?”

Izuku’s eyes lit up. “You want to join our team?!”

Todoroki nodded and averted his eyes, looking more embarrassed than Izuku had ever seen him.

“Of course you can!” Ochako cried out. “This is gonna be so cool!! Do you need help with your costume? Izuku sketched mine out for me!”

“Midoriya… draws?” Todoroki blinked, seeming surprised by that. “I would… appreciate the assistance. Most hero teams have some sort of uniform, right?”

“Ours is pretty loose, though! The most important thing is the scales. Beyond that, the only thing that I’m strict about is facial protection. Eyes, noses, and mouths are weak points that are easy to exploit, and having something to protect them can also prevent you from instinctively flinching back from blows aimed in that direction. You could always go with something designed after ski goggles! That’d match your aesthetic while also being protective; we’d just need to give you some sort of mask for filtering gases and stuff like mine. Maybe don’t make my mistake and protect your neck from the beginning too…” Izuku muttered.

Todoroki looked slightly overwhelmed as he said, “That sounds good. We’ll have to talk more about it later, but thank you, Midoriya, Uraraka.”

“None of that,” Ochako chided. “You’re part of our team now. You can use our first names.” Izuku nodded when Todoroki looked at him questioningly.

They both grinned when Todoroki nodded and said, “Then call me Shouto.”

-

It took half an hour for the arena to be completely fixed. When Izuku walked out into the stadium, standing directly across from Monoma, it was impossible to tell that the ground had been so wrecked before this.

“And we’re back! Our second round kicks off with 1-A’s still undefeated: Izuku Midoriya! Versus! 1-B’s keen strategist: Neito Monoma!”

“With a quirk like yours, I really expected you to be all brawn. You’ve pleasantly surprised me. 1-B is counting on me to win this, though. I won’t hold back.”

“START!”

Izuku very nearly responded to Monoma before pausing, eyeing him more closely, and keeping his mouth closed. ‘Shinsou wasn’t sitting with 1-A toward the end there. Assuming that he wins his next match against Iida, he’d be going against me. As someone who knows both his fighting style and his quirk, I’m the worst possible matchup for him. Letting Monoma copy his quirk to take me out of the game here would be the smart thing to do since he could still surprise him with his fighting style. I’m not risking it.’

Monoma sighed. “Not gonna do this the easy way, huh?” 

Green eyes narrowed as Izuku studied his opponent. ‘I don’t want to risk getting too close to him --if he copies my quirk and goes all out, then it could seriously hurt him-- so my best move would be…’ He used Blackwhip to send out two dark tendrils, wrapping one around Monoma while he dodged away from the other. 

Izuku tightened his hold on Monoma and prepared to throw him out of the ring when Monoma cackled and said, “Oh, I hoped you’d use that.” He froze when Monoma vanished, eyes widening as he saw two blue eyes peeking out from a tendril that was now aimed directly at him. It was hard for something connected to Izuku to miss him. He barely kept himself in the ring from the force of the impact --only the second tendril planting itself in the ground saved him-- before he shut off Blackwhip entirely, ejecting Monoma back into the ring.

“Monoma just turned one of Midoriya’s attacks against him! Have we finally found someone who’ll give our champion trouble?!” Present Mic cried out.

‘Blackwhip is completely out then. That’s going to make this difficult. Does he have a copy limit? If I get in close, then I’m going to have to throw him out quickly or risk him breaking himself.’

“You’re a thinker,” Monoma said as he darted in close. “So I just can’t give you time to think.”

Izuku jerked back and grabbed Monoma’s wrist, flipping him over his shoulder before the blond could brush against Izuku with his free hand. He wasn’t close enough to the line to flip him out of the ring, but Monoma grunted as Izuku took several steps back.

One for All flowed over him, and now that he was looking closely, Izuku noticed that his veins actually glowed red before the green lightning thing happened. ‘Huh. That’s a visual indicator that could be dangerous.’ He waited for Monoma to stand up, knowing that trying to restrain him with Blackwhip wouldn’t go well and that trying to grab him while he was down would only give him the chance to copy One for All.

Monoma stood back up, chuckling as he said, “Definitely have to give you credit. You deserved to get this far.”

‘The fact that you’re still talking makes me almost certain that you have Brainwashing. I’m not going to fall for that.’

Izuku leapt forward, startling when Monoma blew out a stream of air to keep him from getting close. He swung his foot around and shattered the invisible barrier. Monoma’s hand immediately went for Izuku’s foot, but luckily, he only lightly brushed against the pants of Izuku’s gym uniform.

‘Brainwashing, that darkness merging quirk, and the air one... That’s at least three quirks. There has to be some sort of limiter, right? How many can he copy? How long do the copies last?’

“Monoma and Midoriya seem to be at a standstill!” Present Mic shouted. “Neither of them can get any solid hits on the other!”

‘I could try to time him out, but I have no guarantee that would work. I have to risk it.’

Izuku rushed forward, tackling Monoma as he tried to throw him out of the ring. He could feel the hand brush against his arm, and he only relaxed once Monoma muttered, “A blank, damn. You’ve got a finicky quirk, don’t you?”

He pivoted around, swinging his foot at Monoma and reeling when a sudden, invisible impact sent him out of the form. Izuku only managed to keep himself from falling by using Float to leave the ground entirely, grimacing. ‘That wasn’t the same as the air barrier. He has the invisible impact thing too… At least he can’t use One for All for whatever reason. Just sucks that I still have to keep him from touching me.’

When Izuku ran toward Monoma again, he was surprised to see the blond’s eyes widen as he dodged instead of striking back. Curious, Izuku decided to chance it and sent another tendril from Blackwhip at him, smirking when he didn’t sink into it this time. He wasn’t going to risk his quirk going out of the ring --it was an extension of himself in some ways; it could count as him stepping out-- so he put Monoma down right in front of the line and shoved him out instead.

“And our champion has come out on top again! Izuku Midoriya is our first semi-finalist!”

Izuku walked over to Monoma, grinning as he said, “A time limit, huh? You’ve got a great quirk! What counts as contact for you? Would it be possible to carry around a support item that lets you refresh your copy of a quirk? Rings with hair, maybe? Obviously you can copy transformation quirks, but can you copy mutations? Do you copy any mutations that someone has if you copy their quirk and it has nothing to do with it? Can you--”

Monoma burst into laughter, and Izuku blushed when he realized that he’d started muttering again. “Sorry…”

“No, no! You’re fine. It’s quite refreshing to speak with someone who is as interested in quirks as I am. That being said, I’m not going to show all of my cards just yet. You’ll see what I can do in time.”

Izuku walked back to the stands, sitting between Ochako and Shouto with a relieved sigh. “That was really close. If he didn’t have a time limit, then we could’ve been locked in a stalemate forever.”

“He’s actually really powerful, huh?” Ochako murmured.

Shouto nodded. “Without a doubt. He’ll be a force to reckon with in the future.”

“Moving on to the next round! I’m still not quite sure what he does, but it’s scary: Hitoshi Shinsou! Versus! Steadfast and straightforward: Tenya Iida! START!”

Izuku felt bad when Iida immediately blanked and got ordered out of the ring too, but he’d expected it. ‘Iida is very earnest. Shinsou only had to wish him good luck to get a reaction out of him. But still, it’s a rough showing when he got used as an advertisement and then got out the next round. He still has his brother’s agency, at least.’

“It was over in an instant again! Midoriya will have his work cut out for him with this one. Our second semifinalist: Hitoshi Shinsou!”

The matches after that were also quick, decisive victories. Yanagi was unable to use her quirk to get Hagakure out of bounds, and refracting light off of her body blinded Yanagi long enough for Hagakure to throw her out of the ring.

Shouto also took down Yaoyorozu quickly, freezing her up to the neck before she got the chance to create anything. Izuku hoped that she wouldn't get too down on herself about it; Yaoyorozu was surprisingly insecure. ‘Then again, with the expectations on her… Maybe it’s not so surprising after all.’

Much to the disappointment of the crowd, the first semifinal match was also over quickly. Izuku just shoved Shinsou out of the ring with Blackwhip, and since Shinsou knew that he wasn’t going to be able to get Izuku with his quirk or best the person who taught him how to fight, not yet, he let him.

Shouto and Hagakure’s fight was an interesting one, even if it didn’t last very long either. Hagakure was able to dodge his first blast of ice and tried to blind Shouto with a combination of her quirk and the ice amplifying the reflection, but he just encased the other half of the arena in ice to make sure that he caught her.

“So we’ve got our finalists! We’ll take a brief break to clean up the arena and let our competitors get ready, but Izuku Midoriya and Shouto Todoroki will be going head-to-head in the last match of the day!”

Iida’s phone rang. He excused himself while he went to answer it, and when he rejoined them in the stands, he was pale and shaking.

“Midoriya! Uraraka! I apologize for leaving early, but my brother has been attacked by a villain. I need to go see him!” Iida cried out.

“Be safe!” they both called out as he ran off, not getting the chance to say anything more than that.

“I hope that everything is alright…” Ochako murmured. “But you better go get ready. Iida would be mad if you weren’t prepared because you were worrying about him.”

Izuku left the stands with a shaky nod, agreeing to go wait in the prep room one last time. He ran into one of the last people he wanted to see on his way there.

“There you are.”

“Endeavor… What’re you doing back here?” Izuku gulped as he looked up at the man. The fire flickering around his face --both as a beard and as a mask around his eyes-- cast him in an eerie light that intimidated Izuku, especially given what he knew now.

“I saw what you did out there. That kind of strength, speed, and versatility… You’ve got an amazing quirk. It might even be on par with All Might’s.” 

Izuku wasn’t going to stick around and chance Endeavor seeing the same connection Shouto did. He walked around him, quickly striding forward as he said, “I don’t know what you’re getting at. I need to go get ready--”

Endeavor turned back to face him, cutting him off by saying, “My boy, Shouto, has a duty to surpass All Might. His match against you will prove a valuable test. Give it your all. Put up a good fight against him. That’s all I have to say.”

Izuku could feel his teeth grinding together as he stopped walking. “I’m not All Might.”

“Well, of course you’re not--”

“Right, that much is obvious.” Izuku looked back, staring Endeavor in the eye as he said, “And Shouto isn’t you.”

Present Mic started talking again, but Izuku’s heart was pounding too loudly in his ears for him to hear it. The hallway surged with heat from Endeavor’s anger. Izuku quickly walked to he where he needed to wait for the next match, deciding that it was better to be safe than sorry.

“And now, what you’ve all been waiting for…”

Izuku stepped into the arena, listening to the crowd cheer louder than they had all day. He looked at Shouto and gave him a smile. Shouto returned it.

“Our finalists!! Will he hold onto his championship title?! Izuku Midoriya! Versus! He’s ruthlessly swept everyone aside so far: Shouto Todoroki!”

“Your father is a real dick, you know?”

Shouto snorted and nodded, tilting his head as he asked, “Want to make a show of this?”

“START!”

“You know I do,” Izuku answered with a smirk.

Immediately, a giant glacier of ice rushed toward Izuku. He grinned as he let dozens of black tendrils explode outward, writhing as he powered up One for All and helped them destroy the glacier.

Any ice that came Izuku’s way was shattered into millions of tiny pieces, glittering in the setting sun in a breathtaking display. When one glacier went particularly high, Izuku took the chance to use Float and start flying around the ring. He was careful not to cross the line, staying close to the center, and Shouto only smiled indulgently before going up in flames and hurling them in the sky again. Izuku used Blackwhip to dig into the ground plant himself in the ring, only getting slightly battered by the rapid expansion of the air.

He looked down at Shouto, tilted his head, and grinned when Shouto nodded. Izuku divebombed his newest friend, smashing ice and batting away fire as he got closer and closer to the ground. He did a happy little spin as he laughed, Blackwhip swaying and vibrating with his joy. When the tendrils wrapped around Shouto, it was more like giving him a hug than truly restraining him. Izuku touched down in front of him with a massive smile on his face, ignoring the fact that a couple of free tendrils were wagging like an excited puppy’s tail.

“I forfeit,” Shouto announced. “I would rather not be thrown out of the ring.”

They both knew that they could fight for a lot longer --Shouto could catch himself with rings of ice as Izuku threw him around, after all-- but neither of them wanted to do that. They just wanted to have fun, show off a little, and end it peacefully. ‘It’s just a school competition. No need to maim each other for this.’

“There you have it! Shouto Todoroki has forfeited, meaning that the winner of the first-year’s Sports Festival is 1-A’s Izuku Midoriya!”

Izuku smiled as he deactivated both Blackwhip and One for All, lightly bumping his shoulder against Shouto’s as he asked, “You doing alright? I know you can balance yourself out pretty well, but rapidly fluctuating temperatures can probably still make you dizzy and--”

“Never change, Izuku.”

“Since our arena is surprisingly intact, we’ll be able to move on to the awards ceremony shortly! Tooru Hagakure and Hitoshi Shinsou, please come join our finalists while we get everything set up. We’ll be back for our viewers at home after a quick break!”

Shouto and Izuku watched as Cementoss set up the concrete podiums, and Hagakure and Shinsou joined them while Midnight was painting the numbers on the front.

“You guys were so cool!” Hagakure cheered. “We were on the edge of our seats the entire time! Well, except for Uraraka, but she said that you were both just playing so--”

“They were. It would’ve been a much bloodier fight if they hadn’t been.” Shinsou looked over them both, eyes narrowing as he said, “Though I don’t know when you two got so close.”

“I’m joining Izuku and Ochako’s hero team,” Shouto said simply, and Shinsou looked taken aback by that.

“Aww… I can’t blame you ‘cause it’s Todoroki, but I wanted to join,” Hagakure mumbled.

“You still can,” Izuku reassured her. “A stealth hero would balance us out a lot, and we all trust you. It’s not like we’re trying to restrict the members to a certain number.”

“Really?! That’d be great! The support department is still working on a way to make my costume switch between invisible and visible, but once they’ve figured it out, I’ll make sure to get those scales put on mine too. You can all call me Tooru!”

“What am I, chopped liver?”

“You and I both know that you want to be a solo underground hero, Shinsou.”

“Doesn’t mean that I don’t want to be offered, Midoriya,” Shinsou snarked back, clearly just messing with him.

“You have a very weird friendship,” Shouto observed.

Izuku and Shinsou both just laughed at that, and once Izuku had caught his breath, he looked up at the nearly finished podiums before turning back to his friends and asking, “Wanna help me make a point on national television?”

-

“And… We’re back! Midnight, take it away!”

“Thank you, Mic. We’re moving right on to the awards ceremony! In third place we have… What are you four doing?” Midnight sounded exasperated, but it was in such a begrudgingly fond way that Izuku knew she wasn’t mad.

He beamed from his place on the first-place podium, tilting his head in faux confusion as if there weren’t three extra people up there with him. Izuku smiled as he said, “I said that I wanted to walk toward a better future together, remember? I may have won the tournament here today, but that doesn’t mean that I’m better than anyone else. There’s not enough room for all of us up here --and I do know when to stop pushing my luck, believe it or not-- but I don’t want to stand above the others. We’re all equals here.”

“I like it!” Midnight cried out, cracking her whip with a wide grin. “The medals will be the same, but I don’t see why you can’t stand together! Speaking of medals, presenting them this year is…”

“I am here with the medals!” 

“Everyone’s hero: All Might!”

All Might and Midnight looked at each other awkwardly for several long moments, and then Midnight apologized for cutting him off. She walked over to the podium with All Might, holding the case of medals open as he reached into it and pulled out both third-place medals.

“Hagakure, Shinsou, you both proved today that overwhelming power isn’t everything. You should be proud of getting so far.” He placed the medals around their necks before stepping back and grabbing the next one.

Izuku knew that All Might probably didn’t mean what he said in a bad way, but it still felt a little dismissive. Shouto definitely agreed if the cold glare on his face was any indication. ‘Then again, that just might be because it’s All Might…’

“Young Todoroki, your true capabilities were a wonder to behold. I look forward to seeing more of what you can do.” That glare only hardened further when All Might gave him the silver medal. Shouto wound up snatching it from his hands and putting it on himself. All Might blinked at the scene before moving on and bringing the gold medal up to Izuku, smiling as he said, “You’ve done incredibly well for yourself today, young Midoriya. You’ve made me proud.”

‘Make it more obvious for people that we have a connection, would you?’ Izuku thought snarkily. The medal itself wasn’t heavy, but the weight of what it represented certainly felt that way as it hung around his neck.

“These are your winners!” All Might declared. “But as young Midoriya said, everyone here has the potential to be standing up on this podium! Competition! Encouragement! Pushing each other to climb higher! The sprouts of today will grow into the heroes of tomorrow! In that spirit, let’s have one final cheer!”

And while the weight of All Might’s expectations still felt heavy, Izuku laughed alongside all of his friends as the rest of the stadium screamed ‘Plus Ultra’ over whatever All Might said. They bid their farewells to Shinsou --who, after ranking third in the Sports Festival, was definitely guaranteed a spot in the hero course-- and headed back to class together. Everyone was told that they’d get the next couple of days off to recover, and the class grew even more excited once they learned that any internship offers would be waiting for them once they got back.

‘This is our starting line. Everything really begins here.’

Chapter Text

The next day, Izuku got a message from Shouto --he gave Ochako, Tooru, and Izuku his number right after the Sports Festival-- asking if he could come over tomorrow to work on his costume. His mother had been excited at the prospect of meeting more of Izuku’s friends and agreed immediately, but Izuku needed to focus on what was happening today for now.

“It’s been so long since we’ve had a family over,” Inko said with a hum. “I hope that the Urarakas don’t mind the clutter. Should we put some of it away?”

“I think it’ll be fine, Mom. It’s just some pictures and knickknacks anyway,” Izuku answered from the kitchen. ‘I don’t think I’ve seen her so worried in a while. She must really want to make a good impression on them.’ Izuku could understand that. Ochako was the first friend he’d made in a literal decade; the last thing he wanted was for her parents to not like him.

There was a knock on the door.

“Mom, would you mind getting that? The donburi is almost done!”

“Hello! Welcome to our home, Mr. and Mrs. Uraraka. It’s nice to see you again, Ochako.”

“You don’t have to be so formal, Mrs. Midoriya. Just Chami is fine,” Ochako’s mother said. “Thank you for inviting Ashita and I over as well; Ochako speaks so fondly of you and your son.”

“Call me Inko, then.”

“Speaking of, where is Izuku?”

He peeked his head out from the kitchen when he heard Ochako’s voice, saying, “In here! Sorry, dinner’s almost done.”

“Your boy’s cooking for us?” Ochako’s father asked.

Inko giggled and said, “He really wanted to make a good impression on you both.”

“Mom!” Izuku wailed.

The adults all laughed, and Izuku’s face was still bright red by the time that Ochako helped him carry the plates to their dining table. There was just enough room for five people --Izuku and his mother used to do this sort of thing with the Bakugos, after all-- and once they had all settled and started eating, Ochako’s mother turned to Izuku with a questioning look.

“Ochako was telling me about how you’re forming a hero team together, but have you two come up with a name? Are there any others joining in?”

“We’re the Scales of Justice!” Izuku answered with a huge grin. “And Shouto and Tooru are both joining too.”

“That’s the fire and ice boy and the invisible girl, isn’t it? Talk about a strong team…” Ochako’s father muttered.

Inko looked to Izuku with teary eyes, sniffling as she said, “I knew that putting the scales on your costume was an homage to me, but I didn’t expect you to name the whole team after that!”

“Oh? Come to think of it, what do you do for a living, Inko?”

His mother turned to Ochako’s with a small smile tugging at her lips. “I’m a villain defense lawyer. It’s my job to make sure that villains are given fair sentences --it’s shockingly common for heroes to try to push their careless damages off on those they captured-- and that their human rights are still being maintained. Most people would probably assume that it’s a thankless job, but I enjoy what I do.”

“Oh!” Ochako gasped. “That’s why you talk so much about wanting to make sure things are fair! You’re not just trying to save civilians…”

Izuku nodded. “If you’re really going to save someone, then you need to save their hearts too. Sometimes villains are the ones who need the most help, but no one ever seems willing to offer it to them. I want to change that. We’re all people. With the way that heroes are deified and villains are demonized, I think that a lot of people forget that. I just… want to help people.”

Ochako’s father gave him a long look before saying, “Ochako, you need to marry this boy.”

“Dad!” she cried out as both she and Izuku blushed bright red.

“Oh, I’m so proud of you, Izuku,” Inko sniffled. “You’ve always had such a big heart. I was worried that going to a hero school would harden it.”

“We’ve got a couple of good kids, huh?” Ochako’s mother said with a smile. “I’ll admit, it makes me feel a lot better to know that Ochako won’t be doing this all alone. She did amazing --especially against someone as powerful as that Todoroki kid-- but knowing that our kids will be looking out for each other…”

“It makes it a little bit easier to let them go,” his mother agreed.

-

“This is… impressive,” Shouto muttered as he looked at the sketch of his costume. “And the specifications are so detailed too… Is it even possible to weave more fire-resistant fibers with kevlar?”

Izuku nodded. “It’s a bit finicky, but it helps that kevlar is fire-resistant to start with. Obviously, it’s super important that your costume can withstand extreme temperatures, but kevlar protects you from getting stabbed or shot too. I’ve seen devices that can regulate body temperatures like this before. It shouldn’t be too hard for the support department to build a monitoring function into the jumpsuit itself and link it into an external piece of gear that helps you; that’s why I added the vest. Can you think of any other additions that you want?”

“I want a utility belt too. Having pouches for supplies will be useful. Maybe add a way for the boots to become spiked? It would make running on ice easier.”

Izuku wrote down everything that Shouto was saying, drawing arrows to the places on the costume that would need the new functions. “Those are good ideas. The gauntlets that I added should hopefully help you compress both ice and fire better, assuming that the support department can figure out a way to make them. You want the full range for the ski goggles, right? Thermal and x-ray vision? Do you want a design on your mask, or do you just want to leave it white?”

“Those both sound good,” Shouto agreed. “Make sure to specify that the goggle lenses need to be clear too. People are more relaxed when they can see your face, right? The mask can’t be helped, but if seeing my eyes can put them more at ease… As for the mask’s design, maybe we can make it look like fabric? It could throw villains off if it doesn’t look particularly useful.”

“That all sounds doable! What colors do you want?”

“Navy for the main color. White for the accents. Maybe some shade of pink here and there? The silver from the support items should go fine with that, right?”

“Mhmn! The gold scales won’t clash with anything either. It looks good, Shouto!”

“Thanks,” Shouto said with a small smile. “I appreciate you helping me put the idea to paper.”

“Anytime!”

Shouto looked around Izuku’s apartment, eyes lingering on a few family pictures. It was just Izuku and Inko in most of them, but in a few early ones --pictures that were taken when Izuku was three or younger-- there was a tall man with white hair and red eyes in them too.

“I know your mother is at work right now, but is your father…?”

Izuku shook his head and chuckled bitterly. “He left months before I was diagnosed as quirkless. I think that he knew… Mom is still married to him and he still sends checks, but I haven’t seen him since he left. I wouldn’t even know what he looked like if we didn’t have pictures.”

“Are all fathers awful?” Shouto muttered.

“Ochako’s seems nice.”

“Hm. Sounds fake, but okay.”

Izuku snorted at that, stretching and massaging the crick out of his neck that came with bending over one of his notebooks for too long. “How did visiting your mother go?” Izuku had been a bit worried when Shouto mentioned wanting to visit her after the Sports Festival, but he trusted his friend to know his limits.

“It went well. She seems… happier now that she’s away from my father. I want to save her. I want her to be able to feel safe like that outside of the hospital too.”

“That sounds like a good thing to work toward,” Izuku said with a smile. “We’ll help you however we can.”

“Thank you,” Shouto said with a small smile. “It’s… nice not being alone.”

-

It was raining on the day that classes started up again. Izuku had been swarmed on the trains after his win at the Sports Festival, and he resolved to start taking an earlier train to avoid being late. ‘I’m cutting it close as it is…’ 

Izuku wasn’t the only one running behind this morning. He and Iida both sprinted into the building --Izuku holding an umbrella while Iida was decked out in a poncho and rain boots-- and shook out their soaked rain gear before storing them in lockers.

“Um… Is everything okay?”

“You needn’t worry about my brother!” Iida said with a smile. Something about it felt unbearably hollow. “I apologize if he or I caused you any undue concern.”

‘If things were really okay, then you wouldn’t have gone radio silent while we were on break.’ He knew better than to press, though, so the two of them simply made their way to the classroom in silence.

Everyone was chattering excitedly about the Sports Festival until Aizawa walked into the room, quieting immediately as he called out, “Morning.”

“Good morning!”

“We’ve got a hero informatics class first thing today. It’s a special one too. You’ll be coming up with your hero names.”

The entire class erupted into cheers, and Izuku wasn’t ashamed to be one of them. He, Ochako, Shouto, and Tooru had all talked about their hero names over the break, wanting to coordinate them so that, even if it wasn’t immediately obvious, they all had a theme of balance and inclusivity.

“But first… Concerning the internships that I mentioned, offers are based on who the pros think will be ready to join the workforce after another two or three years of experience. You could say that it’s a way for them to show interest in your futures. However, that interest can grow or wane before you graduate. These offers aren’t set in stone and can be revoked at any time; it’s actually quite common.”

“So, even if we’re picked now, there’ll just be higher hurdles in the year to come, huh?” Tooru asked.

“Yes. Now, here are the number of internship offers that each of you received.” Aizawa clicked a remote and a holographic projection covered the blackboard. Izuku blinked in shock at the uneven numbers --most of the offers were sent to him or Shouto-- but he was pleased that all of his friends had at least a few offers. “There’s typically more of a spread, but our top two really stole the spotlight.”

“Man, they’re in a totally different league!” Kaminari cried out, slumping in his chair. He got a few offers thanks to his showing in the cavalry battle, but Izuku knew that Shinsou getting him out right away hurt his chances. Iida got a decent number of offers, but that probably had more to do with the fact that he was a legacy, considering how things went for him. Given Iida’s displeased expression, he knew that too.

Kirishima said, “They’ve got first and second backward, though.”

“Some heroes probably don’t know how to help Midoriya,” Sero pointed out. “His quirk is a lot more technical than Todoroki’s.”

“Good job, as ever, Todoroki.”

“It was mostly just my father’s influence, Yaoyorozu.”

Ochako beamed at her hundred or so offers, saying, “I guess my fight against Shouto was enough! I was worried…”

“Since when were you calling him Shouto, kero?”

“With that said,” Aizawa continued, clearing his throat. “Whether or not you were given any offers, you’ll all have a chance to work alongside pros.”

“So that’s where our hero names come in!” Satou cheered.

“They won’t be set in stone, but you’ll still want to pick something appropriate--”

“Or else you’ll know hell!” Midnight cut Aizawa off, sauntering into the classroom. “The name that you pick now may be what the world ends up calling you. It’s happened to plenty of pros! It’ll be hard to change it once it becomes commonly used.”

“Exactly. Midnight will be the one evaluating whether or not your names make the cut; I’m really no good at that kind of thing. What future do you see for yourself? The name that you choose will play a large part in cementing your image and reflecting your goals and character.”

The class got fifteen minutes to work on names, and the Scales of Justice wrote theirs down right away. Izuku offered to help a struggling Aoyama, sighing in relief once he persuaded him away from an entire sentence. He didn’t see anyone else who needed immediate, dire help --well, besides Bakugo, but Izuku knew better than to comment on his name-- even if they could use improvement, so he left them be.

“Alright, let’s get started! It’s alright if you’re still working on it, but will someone who’s ready come to the front?” Midnight asked.

Aoyama did just that, carrying his board up with him and smiling as he said, “I’m the Shining Hero: Étoile!”

“Oh! I like that. Very nicely done.”

Ashido went up next, and while Midnight tried to veto her name idea, Izuku pointed out that the Alien series was no longer protected under any copyright laww. Ashido was ecstatic about that news. Midnight convinced her to change her tagline to Acidic Hero, though, so she wound up being the Acidic Hero: Alien Queen.

Tsuyu went next, and everyone loved the name Froppy. ‘Rainy Season Hero is a cute tagline, and it makes Tsuyu sound approachable too.’

Kirishima declared himself the Sturdy Hero: Red Riot, an obvious homage to Crimson Riot that made Izuku smile. Midnight warned him that there was a lot of pressure that came with names like that, but in typical Kirishima fashion, he was ready to meet that head-on.

Jirou picked Hearing Hero: Earphone Jack, Shouji picked Tentacle Hero: Tentacole, Sero picked Taping Hero: Cellophane, Satou picked Sweets Hero: Sugarman, Ojiro picked Martial Arts Hero, Tailman, and Kaminari picked Stun Gun Hero: Chargebolt. Midnight seemed pleasantly surprised by all of their names. 

Tooru was the first member of their group to present her name. “I’m the Stealth Hero: Spectra!” Her name took their group the longest to come up with, but they all were happy with it in the end. ‘Visible light is part of the electromagnetic spectrum, and she manipulates that both to make herself invisible --even if she can’t turn that part off-- and to refract light. One of the plural forms for spectrum is spectra, and her name also sounds kind of like specter. It was way better than going with Ghost and calling it a day.’

Shouto went next. “Thermodynamic Hero: Equilibrium.” That name was pretty self-explanatory, and Midnight seemed to agree, giving it an immediate pass. 

Ochako followed him up by saying, “I’m the Orbital Hero: Uravity!” Ochako had decided on her hero name a while back --using the kanji from her name in an incredibly clever way-- and everyone agreed that it was a good one. Since orbits are typically a regular thing, Ochako changed her tagline to match the group’s theme. ‘Because, as she said, what goes around comes around.’

Yaoyorozu looked like she was about to present her own name, but when she saw the look on Izuku’s face, she gestured for him to go first. Izuku took a deep breath as he flipped his board around in front of the class. “I’m the Balance Hero: Themis.”

Midnight gave him a long look, asking, “Isn’t that a Greek Titaness’s name?”

Izuku nodded. “Themis is the personification of fairness, law, natural law, and so on. As a hero, I want to embody those things, so several years ago, I decided to take on her name. They’re big shoes to fill, but I’m determined to do so.”

“I don’t have any objections!”

After Izuku sat back down, Yaoyorozu chose Everything Hero: Creati, Kouda chose Petting Hero: Anima, Mineta chose Fresh-Picked Hero: Grape Juice, and Tokoyami chose Jet-Black Hero: Tsukuyomi, giving Izuku a nod as he did so. ‘Another deity name, huh? At least I won’t stand out too much for choosing one myself.’

Bakugo went up and had his name instantly rejected, and when Iida went up, he only chose his first name. Midnight allowed it with a sigh after Iida refused to budge. ‘The look in his eye… It’s probably bad to say that I’m more worried about Iida than his brother, but…’

After Bakugo’s next name got rejected, Aizawa cut them off with a sigh and asked him to keep working on it outside of the class. “Your internships start in a week. Everyone who was drafted will get personalized lists, and those of you who weren’t will be able to choose from forty agencies that are always accepting interns. Each hero has their own specialty and region, so make your choices carefully. We need you to submit your choices by the coming weekend; the heroes you choose will need time to prepare accommodations for you all.”

“We’ve only got two days to pick?!” Sero cried out.

Everyone started leafing through their lists, grateful that their next class was a free period. Izuku’s eyes widened at the first name he saw on his list. ‘Hawks?! Flying quirks are pretty rare, so while it makes sense, I still didn’t expect… It’d be a good way to learn how to incorporate Float into my fighting style. I was really just winging it through the Sports Festival, and if I’m already flying this fast with 15% of One for All…’ 

The more that Izuku thought about it, the more certain he was that Hawks was the best choice for him. He circled the hero’s name and laid his stack on the desk, turning to Ochako as he asked, “Who are you planning to intern with?”

“Gunhead! I really want to work on my direct combat abilities, you know? I like rescue work, but I don’t want to lean too heavily into one thing and limit myself.”

‘That’s fair. Ochako was one of the people who saw what happened to Thirteen --who did exactly that and focused on rescue to the exclusion of all else-- and she was already picking up on a lot of combat techniques. Refining it with Gunhead is a good idea.’

“How about you?”

“I’m gonna go with Hawks.”

Tokoyami immediately looked over to Izuku and said, “You got picked by Hawks too? It appears that we’ll be doing our internships together.”

“He sent me an offer too,” Shouto hummed. “He’s probably one of the few heroes my father can’t bully into handing over the internship, and I want to work more on my fine control anyway…”

“Woah! And here I thought I was lucky to get picked by Yoroi Musha. You guys all are going to work with the number three! You’ll have to keep me updated,” Tooru cheered, uniform sleeves waving excitedly.

“How about you, Iida?” Yaoyorozu asked.

“I… I planned on interning with my brother, but Manual was kind enough to offer me a place in his agency. I intend to take it.”

‘Manual? Doesn’t he operate out of Hosu?  Ingenium was patrolling that area during the Sports Festival, and I haven’t heard of any other Stain victims in that area... Iida, please tell me that you’re not planning something so stupid.’ 

Shouto cut off Izuku’s spiraling thoughts. “You said that you needed to go to the support department today, right?”

“Yeah… They should have my costume fitted with a turtleneck now, and it’ll let you submit yours too.”

“Aizawa-sensei, can we…?”

Aizawa sighed. “If you two already made your choice, then I don’t see why not. Leave your forms on the desk before you go.”

The two of them did just that, and to Izuku’s delight, Hatsume greeted them as soon as they entered the workshop. “Hey, Midoriya! Thanks again for the opportunity to show off my babies. Do you need any more fancy gadgets for your costume?!”

“He’s just here to pick up a minor modification, Hatsume!” Power Loader called out. “Don’t scare him off before he can try it on.”

Izuku only laughed, saying, “She couldn’t do that. Besides, Shouto actually does need some tech…”

Hatsume’s eyes lit up. “Do you have another sketch for him?! You have some of the best ideas for babies, even if you don’t know how to make them yourself.” She was practically vibrating as she asked this, and Izuku nodded and pulled out the sheet of paper with Shouto’s costume on it. Hatsume snatched it right away, humming and nodding as she said, “I see, I see! He’s gonna be on your team too, huh? I’ll make sure to link him to the special frequency that you and Uraraka’s comms are set to by default.

Izuku watched as Hatsume took off in a whirlwind. “Am I like this about quirks?”

“Yes,” Shouto deadpanned. “But there’s nothing wrong with that.”

Power Loader only sighed and went off to take pictures of the sketch before it wound up caught in an explosion, handing Izuku his costume when he came back over to them. Izuku pulled the fabric out of the case, nodding at how seamlessly the addition of a turtleneck had been added. ‘You can’t tell that it didn’t have one to begin with.’

“Let me know if it needs any adjustments before your internships start. Todoroki, we’ll get as much done as we can before you go on yours, but something as complex as the gauntlets probably won’t be finished.”

“That’s fine.”

“Says you!” Hatsume cried out. “I’ll make sure they get done!”

“Hatsume, you do have to go home at some point,” Power Loader sighed, sounding absolutely exhausted. 

Izuku and Shouto left before they could start arguing over realistic deadline times.

The next several days went by quickly, and Izuku spent most of his time researching Stain. There were a few things that most people knew about him --like how he struck under the cover of night and took down multiple heroes per city-- but he dug deep to find as much information as he could. 

The first thing that Izuku did was figure out Stain’s exact pattern. When Izuku looked back at past victims, he always targeted four heroes per city before moving on. In addition to that, the bodies were always found in alleyways that were distant from the main roads, indicating that Stain stalked his victims before striking, learning their patterns and ambushing them to keep the upper hand.

Izuku also learned that every hero that Stain killed had the sort of dismissed charges on their file that his mother warned him was a red flag. More often than not, those heroes bribed or threatened people into silence once charges were brought against them, and with abuse of power practically oozing from their files, Izuku wasn’t particularly upset that they were gone. The heroes that Stain left alive were the interesting ones.

‘Ingenium doesn’t have anything against him on his record, so why would Stain go after him? There’s no link between the ones he left alive. Some are legacies and some aren’t. Some have sidekicks and some don’t. Did they just stumble across him at the wrong place and wrong time?’ The more that Izuku looked into it, the more likely that seemed. However, Stain’s attacks had become more and more brutal, even to the ones he left alive, ending with Ingenium formally announcing his retirement after being paralyzed from the waist down. ‘He’s spiraling. The moral code that he was holding himself to before is becoming less and less firm, and things are only going to get worse because of it.’

True to her word, Hatsume finished Shouto’s gauntlets two days before they were leaving for internships. Power Loader had Shouto test out those and his new temperature regulation systems thoroughly before giving him the all-clear, and though Shouto looked a bit embarrassed that his jumpsuit had the same pattern of lines on it as Izuku’s --though Shouto’s was done in white-- he conceded that a plain navy jumpsuit with just the scales on it probably wasn’t distinctive enough, even with his gear.

“I haven’t seen a hero team come together like this since the Wild Wild Pussycats,” Power Loader muttered. “Just so you know, we think we’re close to figuring out a way to turn the invisibility in Hagakure’s suit on and off. She was very insistent that she get scales on her costume as quickly as possible, so…”

Despite Izuku and his friends’ best efforts, Iida continued to withdraw from them. What was once mildly worrying was now outright concerning, and Izuku was certain that Iida was going to do something that he’d regret. 

That’s why, at the train station as they headed off to their internships, Izuku looked at Iida and said, “If it ever gets to be too much and you need to talk… Please say something. We’re your friends! You don’t have to be alone if you don’t want to be.”

Iida faced him with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Sure,” he said before walking away, and Izuku sighed heavily as he watched him go. ‘I can’t just leave this be. I don’t want to betray his trust, but is it betraying his trust if he never told me anything in the first place? Hawks… he’ll be able to do something about this, right?’

-

“I didn’t expect three fledglings to pick my agency! I’m glad that you did, but what are you all wanting to get out of this? I hope you have better reasons for choosing me than rank,” Hawks teased, and Izuku watched with wide eyes as the hero effortlessly carried their luggage with red feathers. 

‘How skilled is he at multitasking? He doesn’t even seem to be focused on those feathers, but he has to be to some degree, right? I mostly came here to train Float, but I could probably improve Blackwhip too..’

“I wish to work on my public relations,” Tokoyami admitted. “I have never been particularly popular, so my social skills could use some work.”

Hawks nodded seriously at that and said, “Well, you came to the right place for that! How about you, little Todoroki?”

“... Fine control, especially with my fire. You’re more precise than my father is, and I don’t ever want to catch someone in the crossfire. Though now that Tokoyami mentions it, I could probably use help with publicity too…” Shouto furrowed his eyebrows in thought, sounding exhausted by the thought alone.

Izuku watched red wings puff up slightly at the compliment, filing that information away for later. ‘I’ll have to update Hawks’ entry in my notebook later. He definitely has more qualities of a mutation quirk than he publicly advertises if that reaction is any indication.’

“And what about you, Midoriya?”

“Oh! Um, mostly it was because I only figured out how to fly during the Sports Festival. There aren’t a lot of heroes who could help me with that, and I know that I’ll be able to fly even faster than I do now once I can withstand more of my latent energy. You’re the only hero that could train me in high-speed flight specifically, and your precision with your feathers is also something that I hope I can emulate with Abyssal Whips. They’re very linked to my emotions, so control can be a bit finicky and--”

Hawks laughed, bright and loud, as he said, “Your brain and mouth goes as fast as the rest of you, huh, kid? I like that. Alright! We can definitely work all of that in, but your first task is to keep up with me during patrol.” 

“Good luck with that! You’ll need it,” Hawks said with a smirk.

The three of them spent most of their first patrol desperately chasing after Hawks, but Izuku helped Shouto and Tokoyami by flying them along while holding onto them with Blackwhip. Hawks had been delighted when Izuku actually managed to catch up to him before he defeated a small group of criminals.

When Izuku, Shouto, and Tokoyami fell into their temporary beds that evening, they were all sore and tired, but they were also tentatively excited about what was to come. Izuku checked his phone after lying down, frowning when he saw that Iida had left him on read again. ‘Tomorrow,’ Izuku thought as he drifted off to sleep. ‘I’ll tell Hawks about my suspicions first thing tomorrow.'

Chapter Text

“Um, Hawks? Can I talk to you about something?” 

The winged hero looked back at Izuku with a cocked eyebrow, patting the barstool next to him as he nodded. “Sure, kid. What’s got you up so early? Couldn’t sleep?”

Izuku shook his head as he sat down. “No, I slept fine! I’m always up this early. I usually go on a run or do some stretches, but… Um, do you have a way of contacting Manual?”

Hawks’ head tilted slightly as he said, “Yeah, but what do you need to talk to him for?”

“I’m really worried about Iida. He’s been super distant ever since Stain went after his brother, and while that’s understandable, he also chose to intern with someone who is based in Hosu. Stain has a pattern of going after exactly four heroes per city, and Ingenium was the first target in Hosu that was reported. Given Stain’s typical target --limelight heroes with dismissed charges with a few rare exceptions, such as Ingenium, that are more likely victims of circumstance-- the odds of an unreported hero death in Hosu is low, even if the bodies are always found in alleyways. The odds of three unreported hero deaths are astronomically low, near impossible. If Iida is given the chance to run off after Stain, then I wouldn’t put it past him to do that, not with how much he loves his brother.”

Golden eyes were much sharper now, evaluating Izuku as Hawks dissected what he said. “What do you want me to do?” Hawks asked, clearly testing him. ‘Is he really using even this to test my problem-solving capabilities? If that’s what it takes…’

“Manual typically patrols during the day, but since the number of heroes patrolling Hosu has decreased until Stain has passed through, he’s been picking up later shifts too. I’d recommend not allowing Iida to join him on those late shifts, not now. As important as it is to be able to work at any time of day, Iida won’t be given the opportunity to do something foolish if he never steps foot into Hosu at night. That presents its own issues, of course --like the possibility that he might try to sneak out and hunt Stain down on his own-- but security measures in any standard hero agency will notify Manual or his sidekicks of Iida exiting the building. I don’t want to burden Manual with what is essentially babysitting, but…”

Hawks sighed. “You’ve obviously done your research. I’ll go call Manual and make sure he keeps an eye on little Iida, okay? You go do your stretches and unwind; you won’t wanna be stiff when we start afternoon patrol.”

Izuku nodded and went to the training room that Hawks had shown them the day before, warming up and getting his blood pumping to calm his racing thoughts. Shouto joined him before too long --also used to waking up early to train-- and when an exhausted Tokoyami stumbled into the room two hours later, he looked at them both with abject horror.

“Morning people… Truly, the bane of my existence.”

Hawks barked a laugh from his place behind Tokoyami, gently ruffling black feathers as he said, “The early bird gets the worm, Tokoyami! Besides, you’ll need to get used to working during dusk and dawn even if you’re not planning on going underground.”

Tokoyami sighed heavily, but he didn’t protest Hawks’ point. ‘It would definitely be the best utilization of Tokoyami’s strength in the darkness. Working when it’s darker out would also prevent attacks from people like Tooru, Kaminari, or Bakugo from being so devastating against Dark Shadow. They would at least be able to recharge over time.’

“Now, since we’ve got a little bit of time before we patrol and I don’t wanna wear you fledglings out too badly, I figured we could talk for a minute.”

Izuku, Shouto, and Tokoyami all straightened up at Hawks’ words. Seeing their serious expressions, Hawks waved his hands and said, “It’s really nothing that serious! You’re all so tense. Then again, I suppose that’s to be expected from a class that’s already been attacked by villains…”

‘Ah, so that’s his angle. Hawks is good at playing up the friendly, carefree persona, but…’ Izuku spent the vast majority of his life dealing with people who pretended to be something they weren’t. Some were good at it and some were bad, but between people acting like they pitied him while wishing he was dead, kids his age finding it hilarious to fake being his friend for a few weeks before leaving him alone again, and teachers acting like they cared about his future when they recommended he start looking for jobs instead of aiming for high school, Izuku knew how to listen for the words that people weren’t saying.

‘The fact that he only asked for 1-A students is telling.’ Shouto and Tokoyami both nodded at Hawks’ words, but they weren’t the type to offer up information without being prompted more obviously. Izuku weighed the pros and cons of giving Hawks what he wanted. ‘On one hand, most of this information is already public knowledge anyway. On the other hand, he is closely affiliated with the Commission, and Mom has always told me to steer clear of them.’ 

In the end, Izuku decided that it would be more trouble than it was worth to obscure information here. “The League of Villains really weren’t that big of a threat. It was scary at the time, no doubt, but even with numbers on their side and a few particularly powerful members, they still lost to twenty untrained children and two pros who were at a massive disadvantage.”

Hawks’ keen eyes locked onto Izuku again, and Izuku distantly noted that his smile didn’t reach his eyes either. “From what I can gather through the reports, you had a large part in dealing with the League, Midoriya.”

“It was nothing that special, really,” Izuku said dismissively, waving his hand. ‘Just because I’m willing to talk doesn’t mean that I’m gonna tell you everything outright. Ask the specific questions. I want to know why the Commission is digging beyond the reports here.’

Tokoyami gave Izuku an odd look before saying, “I disagree. Your Abyssal Whips are likely the only reason that Aizawa-sensei was not more grievously injured.”

“It’d be different if I had known that I could do that with my quirk beforehand, but I only figured it out through dumb luck and blind panic.”

“The fact that you used that move to neutralize such a powerful threat the first time you used it is impressive,” Hawks insisted. “I do wonder how you never realized you could use energy like that before then, though. Was it a matter of only ever using it as a general enhancer or?”

Izuku knew that Hawks would be given information from the quirk registry --it was the best way for their new mentors to be able to assist them while knowing their limitations in advance-- but it didn’t make the fact that Hawks seemed a bit too interested in what his quirk could do any less unnerving.

“Izuku’s quirk had special activation requirements. He’s only been able to use it for a few months.”

Shouto’s answer had Hawks’ eyes widening before he could school his expression. “Seriously? It was registered as a late manifestation, but I’ve never heard of one coming in that late before… No wonder you’re still working out the specifics of it.”

“Seriously. From what I’ve figured out, I can gather, store, and use different types of energy in several ways. The general enhancer that is my default feels different from Abyssal Whips which feels different from Flight.” Izuku sighed. “And it’s nothing like anyone else in my family has ever had, so I’m really left to figure it out on my own.”

“Huh… We’ll work on testing some things out later then. Now, I do apologize for circling back to the League, but it was mentioned that the leader of that attack spoke to you directly, Midoriya. Would you mind telling me about that?”

‘That was covered in my official statement. Is the Commission being shut out of the investigation or is this another test?’ Izuku smiled --small, gentle, and fake-- as he said, “Not at all! I don’t know how much help I’ll be, but I’ll tell you what I know.”

“What was the League’s goal in attacking the USJ?”

“Killing All Might,” Shouto answered. When Hawks looked at him questioning, Shouto said, “I interrogated some of the lackeys on what their plan was. I intended to head to the plaza to assist Aizawa-sensei afterward, but it wound up being unnecessary.”

“Killing All Might, huh? Why would so many petty criminals jump on that bandwagon?”

Hawks' question was probably rhetorical, but Izuku answered it anyway. “Because he’s been less active recently. People who look at his patrol patterns can see that the time he spends fighting crime has been getting shorter over the years. If they mistook a likely shift toward retirement for weakness, then they might believe that they have a genuine chance of defeating him now.”

“Retirement?” Hawks asked, eyes sharp and searching.

‘I’m sorry, All Might, but Hawks is the number three hero. Even with his ties to the Commission, he needs to know that the weight on his shoulders is about to get a lot heavier. I sure as hell can’t trust Endeavor to take care of things.’

Izuku nodded. “It’s the only reason I can see someone like All Might teaching at UA. He’s probably trying to get people used to him being less active before stepping down, and if he’s a teacher, then he can still be a part of creating the next generation of heroes to replace him.”

“That… makes entirely too much sense,” Tokoyami mumbled. “I had wondered why someone of his caliber would become a teacher. If it’s meant to indicate a shift in careers…”

“As for why even petty criminals might want him dead…” Izuku grimaced as he said, “Having a Symbol of Peace is a double-edged sword. Heroism before the age of All Might was seen as more of a profession than a way of life. It was still a highly celebritized job, but heroes weren’t deified either. On the other side of the coin, villains were still called criminals back then, not being nearly as demonized as they are now. The overall crime rate has gone down, yes, but the sense of security All Might brought to Japan also brought an end to villain rehabilitation programs and encouraged black-and-white thinking. Anyone who looked at the data would find a direct link between All Might’s rise as a symbol and the dehumanization of villains. Public perspective shifted. Heroes slowly became faultless bastions of good while villains became irredeemably evil monsters. It's a small wonder that more people aren’t trying to kill him.”

Both Tokoyami and Hawks’ feathers were puffed out in alarm, though the latter hid it better than Tokoyami did. Shouto only nodded solemnly at Izuku’s words. ‘The number of people who would instantly defend what Endeavor has done just because he’s a hero… I’m glad that Shouto told me, but it’s also awful because I know that no one would believe him.’

“So, my best guess at their motives is ending that sort of thinking. Getting rid of the symbol that everyone holds up as the pinnacle of heroism would force them to reevaluate heroism as a whole, and with heroism and villainy so closely entwined…”

“They would be forced to look into shadows that they were previously content to ignore,” Tokoyami concluded.

“Exactly! Even petty criminals are prosecuted as villains. I mean, think about Mt. Lady’s debut. I was there to see that in person, and I can tell you that the purse-snatcher was terrified out of his mind. That was a crime of desperation, not of malicious intent. He intentionally avoided buildings --and thus, people-- by staying on the empty train tracks after he activated his quirk, and while Kamui Woods would’ve been able to resolve the incident with no trouble, Mt. Lady kicked him off the tracks with excessive force that caused a good bit of damage and endangered the civilians near the fight. Her lawyers also tried to push that damage off on the purse-snatcher to increase his ten-year sentence.”

Izuku could go further into how no one should go to prison for ten years because they stole a purse --which probably didn't have that much money in it anyway-- but he forcefully cut himself off before he said anything that put him on a Commission watchlist. ‘If I’m not on one already, that is.’

"Well,” Hawks said faintly. “Remind me to talk informatic-focused heroics with you, Midoriya. If you’re not aiming for that specification yet, then you really should be.”

-

“I can’t help noticing that you and Equilibrium have similar costumes. Is there a reason for that?”

The four of them were on their afternoon patrol now, and Hawks was impressed enough with their ability to keep up with him that he decided to walk around and act as a visible deterrent to crime instead of making them chase him all over the prefecture.

Shouto looked at Izuku when Hawks asked his question, so Izuku chuckled and said, “Equilibrium and I plan on forming a hero team. Uravity and Spectra are with us too.”

“I wish to speak with you about that, actually,” Tokoyami cut in. “I am unsure if you intended to cut the group off at a certain number since heroes are paid on commission, but I would be interested in joining your revelry in the dark. We work well together.”

Izuku beamed. “Really? We’d love to have you, Tsukuyomi. Might have to do a bit of costume modification, but it wouldn’t be anything too major.”

When Tokoyami tilted his head at Izuku, Shouto explained, “The scales are important for all members to have for identification reasons, and our costumes are made of kevlar. You’d probably need long sleeves for protection reasons. Protective eyewear and a mask that can be used as a rebreather and a gas filtration system are also important.”

Hawks whistled. “I’ve never seen first-years put so much thought into their costumes before. Your father help you with that, Equilibrium?”

“Bold of you to assume that he knows I’m joining a hero team,” Shouto snorted. “No, Themis designed our costumes. Came up with the ideas for the support gear too.”

Before Hawks could say anything about that, Tokoyami cut in and said, “That would be acceptable. Dark Shadow shouldn’t have to carry the burden of defending me from all angles.”

“Sounds good then! We can work on designs later,” Izuku cheered, thoroughly pleased that the Scales of Justice were doing so well. ‘At the start of the year, everyone was so focused on making it to the top alone. I know that I’ll never be able to change some of their minds --Bakugo is Bakugo and Iida is determined to fulfill his brother’s legacy-- and that others wouldn’t join us even if I did, but a fourth of the class is already planning to work together after graduating. That’ll give us so much more time to come up with combination moves and learn to fight alongside each other.’

The rest of the patrol went by fairly uneventfully. Izuku got a couple of cats down from trees, Tokoyami and Dark Shadow carried groceries for a few elderly people, and Shouto --in a display of control that Izuku hadn’t realized he was capable of-- refroze a crying kid’s melting ice cream. Hawks handled any villain encounters with an efficiency that Izuku couldn’t help admiring, but that didn’t stop Izuku from reassuring said villains that his mother would represent them in court as soon as Hawks was out of earshot. The way that they looked at him with teary relief --knowing that they wouldn’t be stuck in jail waiting for a trial for years-- only made Izuku more certain that he was doing the right thing.

“Rest up, fledglings! I don’t have a patrol tomorrow, so we’ll be working on your quirks instead. We’ll be starting bright and early.”

Tokoyami groaned at that, but they all got ready for bed with no other complaints. Izuku added Tokoyami to the Scales of Justice group chat --they didn’t use it often, but it was good for keeping all of them in the loop-- and Ochako and Tooru were both excited to have another member. After realizing that they all used each other’s first names, Fumikage gave them permission to do the same for him. He seemed a bit embarrassed by that, but Dark Shadow reassured Izuku that Fumikage just wasn’t used to having people call him by his first name.

As someone who didn’t have friends before UA, Izuku could relate.

The next morning, Izuku did his daily stretches before sitting down with a granola bar and sketching an alternate version of Fumikage’s costume. 

“This really is normal for you, huh?”

Izuku looked over his shoulder and saw Hawks standing at the doorway, tilting his head as he observed what Izuku was doing. ‘How long has he been standing there? I need to work on not zoning out like that.’ Izuku nodded, yawning as he stretched and put his pencil down.

“Good morning, Hawks. Are we gonna practice in costume or out of them?”

“In costume. It's better to wear protective gear when we’re working on new stuff. You can go suit up when you’re done eating; I’ll wake the other two up in a…” Hawks' head turned toward the hallway, wings twitching as he said, “I’ll go wake Tokoyami up in a few minutes.”

Shouto grunted in greeting as he walked into the room. He walked straight for the coffee machine, and Hawks laughed when Shouto visibly perked up once he got about half a cup of coffee in him.

“Doesn’t caffeine stunt your growth or something, kid? I’m surprised Endeavor lets you drink that stuff.”

“That’s a myth,” Shouto said with a glare. “But trauma does, and I somehow seem to be doing fine so far.”

Izuku choked. ‘I can’t even blame him, though. Hawks has been bringing up Endeavor pretty much any time that he talks to Shouto.’

“What?” Hawks asked, visibly confused. “What do you mean by that?”

“I interned here to get away from Endeavor. I would appreciate you not mentioning him at every opportunity.”

“Got it.” Hawks sounded a lot less flippant than usual. ‘He probably realizes that he struck a nerve. Even if he wants to know more, he’s going to avoid the subject for a while.’ The hero looked between Shouto and Izuku for a few moments before saying, “I’m gonna go wake Tokoyami up. Why don’t you two go get in costume?”

They both did so, and when they got to the training room, Izuku led Shouto through a few Aikido katas to help him blow off some steam without wearing himself out. Fumikage and Hawks joined them a few minutes later, and Izuku watched a grimace flit across Hawks’ face when he saw Shouto’s expression.

Hawks clapped his hands together. “Right! Here’s the plan for today, fledglings.” He looked over at Fumikage first, grinning as he said, “We’re gonna get you flying. No bird should be grounded, and since Dark Shadow could carry you just fine during the Sports Festival, I see no reason why it wouldn’t be possible.”

Fumikage looked startled by that, but he also seemed excited by the prospect. Hawks turned to Shouto next. “You want to work on precision, so I want you to practice making ice cubes. I know how that sounds, but making your ice in a small, consistent shape will refine your control. On the other end, you can put your ice cubes into a glass and practice melting them without also melting the cup. You’ll have to make your flames small and keep them beneath a certain temperature to do that, so again, you’ll have more control over it in time.”

Shouto nodded and said, “I can do that.”

Hawks turned to Izuku and said, “You’re a bit more difficult. I have a question for you, actually. Do you know what kind of energy you’re using for your general enhancer mode?”

“It’s all of them at once, I think. I can only use a small amount of it --I’m at about 18% maximum right now-- because of how much energy there is. I think that I was passively storing energy for a while, so I’ve got more of it in me than I can safely use.”

“Then the first thing we’ll want to test out is kinetic energy. If you can figure out how to separate that from the rest of it, then you’ll probably be able to fight more efficiently without straining yourself with too much energy.”

‘That’d be a really good idea if I actually had an energy quirk. Most people don’t know enough about the different kinds of energy to push the boundaries of my explanation like this. How am I supposed to hide One for All from Hawks if I can’t even use kinetic energy?’

“R-right!” he stuttered. Deep within him, Izuku felt an inquisitive, reluctant hum.

“Then I suppose you’re lucky that I can do just that.”

Izuku tensed up slightly, eyes flickering to his right as he saw a glowing, dark purple man with a bandana and a stern expression.

“I still do not know how I feel about you, Nine. You are the son of our greatest enemy, so by all rights I should hate you and yet…” The man scrutinized Izuku, looking for something within him. “And yet Yoichi has reminded me that none of this could have started had we not extended a hand to the brother of our greatest enemy, and I cannot say that modern heroism is on the right path either. We fought to free the world of oppressive control, and yet another force was put in place to do just that… You may be just the shade of gray needed to right the wrongs of this world. I suppose that so long as you don’t throw your lot in with him specifically...”

Izuku tried to listen to Hawks’ instructions, but it was hard to ignore the contemplative ghost by his side. Luckily, Hawks was helping Fumikage with flight first since it was a more involved process, so Izuku was left alone to do more stretches that would store up kinetic energy.

Seeming to resolve himself, the glowing man said, “You may call me Three for now; a name isn’t necessary. However, my quirk will be if you intend to keep this secret. It is known as Fa Jin, and as long as you repeat regular motions with it activated, it will store kinetic energy to use later. It can be released all at once or in increments. Exercise caution while using my quirk, as it can be quite disorienting at first. It would also be wise to leave Fa Jin active while going about daily activities. Better to have a store of energy that you do not need than to come up empty when you do need it.”

Izuku nodded, reaching deep within him and feeling the frantic, explosive energy of Fa Jin reach back. He pivoted around a few times and did a few kicks, and the energy that surged through him at the simple motions was almost overwhelming. ‘It’s like adrenaline on steroids. That’s going to take some getting used to.’

He took a deep breath, tried to release that energy, and smashed right into a wall. The room went dead silent as Izuku groaned, looked at Hawks, and said, “Ow… Think I can use kinetic energy. How the fuck am I supposed to…?”

“I know that Five told you that Blackwhip got stronger because of One for All. Did you expect Fa Jin to be any different? It has been part of One for All for even longer. Even I cannot help you beyond what I’ve already told you. Good luck.” Three faded away, looking far too pleased with this outcome.

“You alright, Midoriya?” Hawks asked, and while both Shouto and Fumikage kept doing what the hero had told them to, they were also looking in his direction with concern.

Izuku nodded, sighing as he pulled on Fa Jin again. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just gonna be a bit of a learning curve on this one.” 

He only moved once before releasing that energy again, and though he still ran into a punching bag, Izuku managed to stop himself before he barrelled into anything else. ‘Hm. I need to figure out how to only release part of that energy. Will the water valve analogy work here too?’

Deciding that it was worth a shot, Izuku did a few more spins before trying to release only some of the energy that they generated. He wound up across the room before he could blink. Izuku frantically dug his heels into the floor, stopping inches in front of the wall with a relieved sigh.

“It’s like you’re teleporting,” Shouto mumbled with wide eyes. “You move so fast that I can’t see it.”

“I think I’ll call it Flicker, then. If people think it’s a minor teleportation thing, then they’re more likely to panic and less likely to figure out how to counter it. Ugh, this is definitely more of an outside thing though.”

Hawks looked over at Izuku and said, “I’d offer for us to practice on top of the building, but I only have so many eyes. And I don’t want you to accidentally hurl yourself off the roof.”

“I can fly,” Izuku grumbled. “But that’s fine. I’ll figure it out.”

And he did. Very slowly. He was banged up and bruised so badly that he hissed when they sat down together to eat lunch, but Izuku was getting more used to traveling at the speed that Fa Jin propelled him to. ‘I’m just glad that I have these goggles. I don’t want to imagine the wind getting into my eyes while I’m moving like that.’

By the end of the day, Fumikage had devised a new move that he was calling Black Fallen Angel. Izuku found it endlessly fascinating that Dark Shadow’s levitation was strong enough to support flight as long as they held onto Fumikage, and the two of them had both been so delighted by the discovery that it was infectious. 

Shouto also made good progress, and he was consistently creating perfect ice cubes and melting them before he started getting adventurous and making stars and flowers instead. He wasn’t ready to explore as much with his fire, but Hawks didn’t push him on that, seeming content with his progress so far.

Izuku was absolutely exhausted by the time that they were sent to bed, but he still checked his phone for any messages before passing out. When a news app that he had notifications on for told him that there was a villain attack in Hosu, he paled before frantically clicking on the article. 

The League of Villains had apparently sent a few nomu to attack the city, causing mass destruction but very few injuries. However, while the nomu were creating chaos in the city, Stain struck and killed Native.

‘It could’ve been worse. Native’s brand was cultural appropriation, and he was also known for planting evidence to incriminate innocent people, usually people with mutation quirks. As a hero-in-training, I should probably be horrified that a hero is dead, but as a person…’

Izuku was just relieved that Iida’s name wasn’t right next to Native’s.

-

The rest of the internships passed by without incident. Hawks promised them that his door was open for future internships if they were interested, and Izuku, Shouto, and Fumikage went back to school all the better for the experience they gained by working with him.

When Izuku entered 1-A’s classroom, he was taken aback by Bakugo’s hairstyle, and Kirishima and Sero’s laughter over it made it clear that he wasn’t the only one. ‘Didn’t he wind up interning with Best Jeanist? I’m guessing he didn’t like that very much.’

Ochako and Tooru also had a different sort of energy about them, and Izuku had no doubt that the week they spent with combat heroes would be beneficial for them in the future. Iida, on the other hand, seemed tense and frustrated, and part of Izuku felt guilty for being the reason for that. ‘None of us are anywhere near Stain’s level yet, though. It’s awful that he’s still out there, but I’d rather him still be out there with Iida alive than out there with Iida dead.’

Ojiro’s voice brought Izuku out of his thoughts. “The news has been saying that they think Stain is affiliated with the League of Villains. It kind of makes sense, doesn’t it? He took advantage of their attack to kill someone as heavily televised as Native while people were distracted. I hate to think of how things could’ve turned out if he had shown up at the USJ…”

‘But was he actually? I can understand why some people would think Stain was working with them, but he’s always been a lone wolf as far as we can tell. Cooperating with a group like that would be out of character for him.’

Everyone excitedly talked about what they did on their internships whenever they got the chance, and before long, they were back in Foundational Hero Studies. All Might made it clear that he intended to use the energy and excitement they had from their internships as part of this class.

“As an immediate follow-up to your internships, today’s activity is a playful one! It’s a rescue-training race!”

Iida raised his hand. “Shouldn’t rescue training be conducted at the USJ?”

“That place is for disaster rescues in particular. This is something a bit different from that. Today, we’ll be using Field Gamma! It’s a dense spread of factories that wind together and create an intricate network of maze-like alleys!”

Izuku poked his head around All Might, taking in the sheer scope of the area. ‘Seriously, where does UA get the funding for this?’

“You’ll be split into four teams of five, and each team will go one at a time! I’ll be sending a distress signal from somewhere within Field Gamma, and each of you will start at the border. It’s a race to see who can rescue me first!” All Might pointed at Bakugo as he said, “Of course, property damage needs to be kept to a minimum!”

They were all divided into teams, and All Might had Izuku, Ojiro, Iida, Ashido, and Sero going first. ‘I’ve got a huge advantage here since I can just use Float. I may have mostly trained with Fa Jin when I was with Hawks, but a lot of the movements I use there are useful for flying as well. Besides, it’s not like I didn’t get the chance to fly there.’  

Shouto had been disappointed that there was no way for him to learn how to fly himself, but he’d been pretty happy when Izuku carried him the night that Hawks took Fumikage and Izuku out for a flight. ‘It was completely different flying at night than it was in the day. Fumikage could see pretty well, but I struggled a lot more. Maybe I should add basic night vision to my goggles? I don’t plan on doing a lot of night patrols, but it wouldn’t hurt.’

“Start!”

Izuku lifted off the ground with Float immediately, powering up One for All and racing forward while heading toward All Might’s distress signal. ‘For the sake of a race, he’s more likely to be on top of a building. If push comes to shove, then I can always just get to the building and work through it. It’s still faster to fly.’

Sure enough, Izuku found All Might standing on top of a tall tower. He gently lowered himself until he was standing in front of the hero, feeling a bit bad about leaving everyone else in the dust. ‘It’s okay to be competitive this time. It’s just a race.’

“I’m so proud of you, young Midoriya! You’ve truly come a long way in such a short amount of time. Keep up your good work while you prepare for the finals!” All Might used a hand to shield his eyes while looking out for any of Izuku’s classmates before leaning down and whispering, “Come talk to me after class. We need to have an important discussion about me… and about One for All.”

Izuku gulped and nodded, feeling faint. Something in All Might’s voice had him feeling distinctly uneasy about this.

Chapter Text

The tense atmosphere in the teacher’s lounge told Izuku that he was right to be worried about this conversation. ‘I’ve never seen All Might look so serious before. It feels wrong.’

“Take a seat.”

Izuku awkwardly shuffled into the room and sat down across from All Might. He fidgeted uneasily as his mentor collected himself, wondering if they were about to talk about Izuku’s differing aims in heroism.

“Technically this is leaking information, but Tsukauchi told me this for the same reason that I’m telling you. Just don’t go spreading it around.” When Izuku nodded, All Might said, “The nomu that you defeated at the USJ had multiple quirks. That may not seem relevant yet, but the existence of this nomu links back to the origin of One for All.”

Izuku’s eyebrows furrowed as he listened to All Might talk. ‘Are we going to talk about that greatest enemy thing that Three mentioned? The person that I’m apparently the son of?’ He had compartmentalized that bit of information to deal with later, but no matter how much he wracked his brain, Izuku couldn’t figure out how his father could have anything to do with One for All. ‘Not that I remember much of the guy, but this quirk is ancient. There’s just no way, right?’

“One for All was originally derived from another quirk altogether. All for One… a quirk that allows its user to steal other quirks as well as grant them to others.” 

The implications hit Izuku like a truck. ‘Wait a second. If he can steal quirks, then he probably found a longevity quirk at some point, right? Which would mean that he really could be my… Was I born with a quirk? Did he just take it, or was I born quirkless because people in early generations were genetically more likely to be born that way?’

“You didn’t have a quirk, Nine,” a glowing, green man said, flickering into existence by Izuku’s side. “Sorry for startling you. I’m Yoichi Shigaraki. You should know that One for All would feel its absence if my brother stole your quirk from you. It’s not much of a comfort, but…”

“All for One… you mean that everything was for this guy to take?” Izuku knew that it was better to play dumb here. He had no logical reason to know anything about All for One, and he knew that saying the ghosts in his head were telling him things wouldn’t go over well.

“This was back at the advent of the exceptional. During the dawn of quirks, back when society hadn’t adapted to the sudden changes it was undergoing. Back then, everything collapsed when the norms of what it meant to be human couldn’t be defined. Laws became meaningless. Societal progress halted and, in many areas, reverted. It was a time of war and bloodshed unlike anything we’ve seen since.”

Izuku nodded. “It’s said that we would be enjoying interstellar travel right now if quirks hadn’t set us back several centuries. Suddenly all the resources that were going toward things like long-distance space travel, curing cancer, and technological advancements had to be redirected to accommodate for quirks and how they affected people. Back in the beginning, there were a lot of people born with quirks that either killed them directly because they couldn’t withstand it or killed them indirectly because people were afraid of it. We can still feel the echoes of those times in some of our modern laws.”

All Might blinked, looking up at Izuku as he said, “I’m surprised you know so much about it. Anyway, one man brought people together during that time of confusion and disorder. You’ve likely heard of this as well. He would steal quirks from other people, and with his overwhelming power, he spread the influence of his organization. He manipulated countless people into committing wicked acts. Before too long, he took over Japan as a Symbol of Evil.”

“I’ve seen rumors about him on the internet. The fact that any mentions of those rumors were stricken out of textbooks always seemed suspicious to me.” Izuku knew all too well how their society liked to shove things under the rug. “But how is this connected to One for All?”

“I mentioned that All for One could grant quirks too. With that ability, he indebted people to him or at least forced them to submit. However, the burden of those quirks was often too heavy for the recipients to bear. Many of them lost the ability to move or even speak. Just like those nomu.”

‘He found a way to weaponize that mind state while still forcing multiple quirks into a person. That’s… One for All won’t do that to me, right? I haven’t had any issues with the quirks so far, but I don’t know how many quirks a person can typically handle.’

“Two or three, usually,” Izuku’s uncle said. “But you don’t have to worry about that. While you don’t have a quirk factor, some of the genetic mutations that my brother got with his quirk were passed down to you. Your body doesn’t have a quirk limit.”

“On the other hand, there was a case where he granted a quirk that resulted in a mutation. The quirk he gave this person blended with the one they already had. All for One… he had a quirkless younger brother. This brother was small and physically fragile, but he had a great sense of justice. The actions of his brother pained him, so he opposed him in any way that he could. But All for One gave his younger brother a power-stockpiling quirk by force. We still don’t know if it was done out of a twisted form of care or if it was done in an attempt to force his brother to submit to his will, though I believe it was likely the latter.”

Izuku’s eyes flickered over to the man who was glowing the same shade of green as Izuku’s eyes. “It was a bit of both. We lived in troubled times, and I do believe that he worried someone would try to use my weakness against him or that I’d get caught in the crossfire. He has never been opposed to helping people so long as doing so benefits him in some way; he’s just quick to abandon someone once they stop being useful to him.”

Izuku mentally acknowledged that before saying, “Wait, so One for All…?”

“Yes. It turned out that the younger brother hadn’t been quirkless after all, though neither he nor anyone else realized it. He possessed a useless quirk that let him pass the quirk itself on to others!”

“Not all of that is true,” Yoichi mumbled. “My brother did know I had a quirk. He was always capable of taking it, and he can sense quirks in anyone who has them. The only limitation to that is that he can’t tell if they’ll have a quirk or not until someone reaches the age of manifestation, though mutations are an exception there since people are born with them. I suspect that he gave me a power-stockpiling quirk because he wanted to have someone loyal to him cultivating that power throughout his reign. He either didn’t think I would want to escape his hold or didn’t expect that I would be able to even if I did.”

“The power-stockpiling quirk and the transferring quirk fused!” All Might cried out as he spread his arms. “That’s how One for All came to be. It’s an ironic tale, no? Justice is always born from evil.”

“I see… Why are you telling me this now, though?” Izuku knew why. All Might mentioning the nomu made it abundantly clear, but Izuku wanted to know what All Might expected him to do about all of this.

“We’re talking about someone who could steal quirks, my boy. Quirks of any kind were at his disposal, and he stole one that halted the aging process, making himself functionally immortal. Given the man’s undefeatable strength and the state of society at the time, his younger brother passed the quirk and the mission that came with it onto future generations. As the power was passed from person to person, it grew and grew, evolving into what you have now. A quirk that even allows you to access the quirks of past users and use them alongside the stockpile itself. This quirk was passed down with the hope that it would one day grow strong enough to defeat All for One.”

All Might’s eyes met Izuku’s, and the guilt lined his face as he said, “I thought that my generation had finally taken him down, but… He survived. And now he’s moving again as the brain behind the League of Villains. One for All is a power that is inherited for the sole purpose of defeating All for One. Someday… you will likely have to face that ultimate evil yourself.”

‘I knew it. Why wouldn’t he tell me about something like this before giving me One for All? Even if he did think All for One was dead, he would have supporters and allies that targeted me because of it anyway!’

“Eight has never been much of a strategist, I’m afraid. After his fight with my brother, he likely wanted to put him out of mind and never think about him again. He truly did believe that he was only passing on the mantle of the Symbol of Peace, but you have every right to be upset that he didn’t let you make an informed decision,” Yoichi said with a sympathetic smile, resting his hand on Izuku’s shoulder. A rush of comforting warmth rushed through him at the contact, feeling not unlike One for All itself.

“The fact that he expects you to blindly follow his path of heroism is also concerning... I do not believe he means ill by it, but the Symbol of Peace is a position with the kind of power and sway over people that my brother had once. I do not want any one person to impact our society so heavily ever again. It’s a recipe for disaster, no matter how well-intentioned.”

After several tense moments of silence, Izuku said, “I’ll do what needs to be done. I want to help people, and if that means that I wind up fighting All for One someday, then I am prepared to do that. I do have a question though. Is All for One capable of taking One for All?”

“No. One for All is a quirk that can only be passed down willingly. You do not have to worry about him taking it from you, my boy. Just… keep training. You’ve made remarkable progress, but you’ll need everything you’ve got if you hope to take him down.”

All Might sent him back to class after that, and it was only on the walk there that Izuku realized that the conversation never shifted from One for All to All Might himself. ‘I wonder what he wanted to tell me?’

“I wish that I could tell you, Nine. Eight has been pretty quiet within One for All. Watching his physical self interact with you is painful for him, and he’s the only one still linked to Eight as much as he’s linked to you.”

Izuku grimaced. ‘I understand. I’m sorry for causing you trouble. He must be disappointed in me. I don’t know how you all aren’t.’

“No, I am not,” a hauntingly familiar voice said. Izuku looked to his left, wide-eyed, and saw a yellow, flaming silhouette of All Might. “The living me does not… know the things you do. Does not have your memories or knowledge like I do. My boy, you see injustices that my living self refuses to look at for fear of acknowledging that he, too, would have suffered them without One for All.”

‘Wait a minute. Are you saying that you were also…?’

“Quirkless, yes. The discrimination still existed,  but it wasn’t nearly so bad in our generation. The things that you have gone through, young Midoriya…” Izuku froze, thankful that the courtyard was empty and the school day long over as the vestige of All Might wrapped him in a hug. “I am so sorry. I should have fought to change these things instead of accepting them as reality. You deserved better than that. The people who entrusted their safety to me all deserved better than that. Thank you for refusing to make the same mistakes as I did.”

Izuku sobbed, falling to his knees as two ghostly presences comforted him. ‘I’m so relieved... I was so afraid of letting you down, but I just couldn’t let things stay as they are! I couldn’t!’

“Midoriya? Are you alright?”

Watery eyes looked up at a vaguely familiar face, and when Izuku wiped them free of tears, he realized that it was Monoma. He flushed with embarrassment, but Yoichi’s voice brought him out of that mortified spiral quickly.

“Oh! The way that One for All reacts to him… I’m sorry for dropping this on you too, Nine, but I don’t want to hide it from you either. Monoma’s quirk factor feels familiar. Familiar in the sense of it being linked to my brother in some way.’ Yoichi’s eyes were wide with shock as he said this, form shimmering at the surge of emotion.

Izuku smiled sheepishly at Monoma and said, “Y-yeah, I’m fine. Sorry, today’s just been weird."

Monoma took Izuku’s hand in his as he helped him to his feet, giving him a once-over before saying, “I’m willing to listen if you need someone to talk to. I can also take you to a teacher if you want, but I figured there was a reason you were out here so...”

“Do you know what your father looks like?” The question escaped him before Izuku could restrain it. He had learned entirely too much today to shoulder alone, and someone knowing even a part of it would be a massive relief. ‘Considering that this involves Monoma too… He doesn’t need to know about All for One, but it would be nice if he knew we’re probably related. Closely related if I had to guess.’

“That’s such a strange question. Most people would assume that I see him regularly, you know?” Monoma chuckled uneasily before saying, “I haven’t seen him in quite some time, but yes, I do know what he looks like. White hair, red eyes, pretty tall. I take after my mother, obviously. Why are you asking?”

“Because I also take after my mother,” Izuku choked out. He pulled out his phone, looking through his photos and scrolling back to an old one that his mother sent him several years ago. He’d asked for it when he was going through a particularly rough time in Aldera, wishing that someone was there to help him and his mother fight against the school that did nothing about red spider lilies being left on his desk every day for months. Izuku showed Monoma his phone, watching blue eyes widen.

“That’s him,” Monoma whispered. “He’s… we’re brothers?”

“Apparently.”

“When’s your birthday?”

Izuku blinked at the sudden topic change, answering, “July 15th. Why?”

“Ha! Mine is May 13th, so I’m the older one!”  Monoma nodded decisively before saying, “Call me Neito, then. I’m not going to have my half-brother call me by my last name. That’s just weird.”

“Izuku. You don’t think it’s weird? This doesn’t bother you?”

“It’s definitely weird, but we can’t do anything about it. And no, it doesn’t bother me. I’ve always wanted a sibling.”

“Me too,” Izuku mumbled with a smile tugging at his lips.

The two of them talked underneath a tree in the courtyard for hours. Izuku was so enraptured with the conversation that he didn’t even notice when Yoichi and vestige All Might faded away, too busy laughing over the fact that Neito only stumbled across him at all because he’d been in detention.

They didn’t part ways until the sun started setting, exchanging numbers and promising to stay in touch. ‘I better hurry and catch the next train home. I need to make dinner for Mom tonight. It’ll have to be something quick, but I can manage it before she gets home.’

Thoughts of his family allowed him to forget about the heavy burden on his shoulders for just one day. Izuku lost himself in the motions of cooking as he prepared himself to tell his mother about Neito.

-

Aizawa was flipping through some forms as he walked into the classroom, laying them down on the podium as he looked over them all. “Summer vacation will be here before much longer. Of course, it would be irrational for all of you to take a whole month off.”

Izuku perked up at his words. ‘It makes sense to keep progress from backsliding during the break, but how does UA do that? Training on campus a couple of days a week? Assigning exercises and checking in on us over break?’

“You’ll be doing a summer training camp in the woods.”

Everyone cheered and started excitedly talking about what they wanted to do at the camp. ‘ We'll be able to do things that we can’t do on the main campus, and the camp will be good for practicing in forested environments too! And at least Shouto will have something to look forward to during this break.’

Aizawa shushed them all. “However, anyone who doesn’t pass their final exams will be stuck in remedial hell here.”

“Good luck everyone!” Kirishima called out.

Izuku looked over at Yaoyorozu, and the two of them nodded, waiting until after class to offer to tutor their classmates in subjects that they were struggling with. Time passed in a haze of studying and training, and by the time that June was coming to a close, Izuku was able to use 25% of One for All.

‘I’m lucky that Fa Jin got me used to using more power with less risk to myself. It’s made opening the valve with One for All a lot easier. I’m still not anywhere near where I’ll need to be to fight my father, but it’s an improvement.’

“I’m not worried about the academic tests, but the practical could be trouble,” Izuku muttered as he and his friends ate together in the cafeteria. “We don’t have any clue how it’ll go.”

“I can’t imagine that it’ll be anything too unusual,” Iida reassured him. Izuku was still worried about his friend, but he was relieved that some of Iida’s smiles were starting to reach his eyes again, even if some of them were still painfully fake. ‘It feels more like he’s struggling with things and less like he’s being consumed by revenge now.’

Ochako sighed. “I wish I had your confidence about the academic portion, Izuku.”

“It’s probably just a comprehensive test of everything from the first semester,” Tooru said with a hum. “We should be alright as long as we look over our notes.”

“Yeah,” Tsuyu agreed. “That’s all Aizawa-sensei has told us.”

“Battle training, rescue training, and basic training will all be covered on the hero test… I’m honestly more worried about my general courses,” Ochako admitted.

“I’d be happy to go over stuff with you again. Sorry that I’ve been so busy with physical training lately.”

Ochako waved her hands frantically and said, “Don’t worry, Izuku! Shouto has been tutoring me. Besides, you have to make sure you do well too, and you’re working on different things.” Shouto nodded in agreement, and Izuku sniffled slightly, relieved that he had such amazing friends.

“You worry too much, Izuku.”

Izuku’s friends were all startled by Neito’s voice. While neither he nor Neito was hiding the fact that they were close now, they were having a bit of fun watching everyone try to figure out when and why they started hanging out with each other.

“I am confident that you, of all people, won’t struggle with either final.”

“This is so surreal,” Kendou muttered. “Monoma went from wanting to crush 1-A to outright liking Midoriya so quickly. What did you do?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Izuku and Neito said in perfect sync, looking at each other with pleased grins.

Shinsou shuddered. “That’s so creepy.”

“I did have a reason for coming over here, though,” Neito continued. “Kendou heard from an upperclassman that past practical exams have been against robots. Just wanted to pass it along.”

“You’re voluntarily helping them? I was going to do the same, but…”

Neito only smirked at Kendou before waving farewell and going to join their class, leaving Izuku before he could say that he doubted things would be nearly that simple with a group like the League of Villains on the rise.

-

Izuku was relieved to be finished with the written tests, but he was a bundle of nerves on the day of the practical exam. Their entire class was told to get in costume and head out to the buses, and seeing Bakugo with his newly reapproved gauntlets only made Izuku more afraid of what was to come.

‘Why are so many of our teachers here? I don’t like the looks of this…’

“Let’s begin your practical exam,” Aizawa said. “It is, of course, possible to fail. If you want to attend the training camp, then you can’t afford to mess this up. Knowing you guys, you probably asked around and think that you have a vague idea of how this’ll go.”

‘This is definitely not gonna be robots.’

“It’s gonna be robots! Just like the entrance exam,” Kaminari cheered.

Ashido beamed as she said, “Summer camp, here I come!”

“I’m afraid not!” Nezu cried as he sprung out of Aizawa’s scarf. “Current circumstances have demanded a revision to our exam format. As such… You students will be pairing up with each other and fighting one of the teachers you see here!”

Izuku paled. ‘I don’t like the sound of that at all. Who will I be going against? Who will I be working with? Depending on the answers to those questions, I could easily fail this.’

Nezu chuckled as he said, “Your pairings and assigned teachers have already been decided. Your battle moves, your grades, your friendships with one another… These factors were all considered in that decision.”

‘Okay, okay, so maybe it won’t be that bad?’

Aizawa looked at Shouto and said, “First up… Todoroki is with Yaoyorozu, and you two will be fighting me.”

Izuku breathed a sigh of relief. ‘Aizawa-sensei was the worst matchup for me out of all the teachers here, so at least I don’t have to worry about plummeting from the sky or anything.’

“Next, Midoriya… is with Bakugo.”

Izuku’s heart stopped. ‘What?’

“And your opponent…” Aizawa trailed off as All Might appeared out of nowhere.

“Will be me! You’ll have to work together to win, so come at me you two!”

‘No. No, no, no, no. They can’t do this. Why would they do this? Why would they give Bakugo back his gauntlets if they were going to do this?’

Izuku froze in place, trembling as his heart pounded in his ears. He could barely hear Aizawa when he said, “Ten stages have been prepared and all teams will begin simultaneously. The test guidelines will be explained by the teacher you’re going against. None of the areas are outside of the school grounds, but let's not waste any more time.”

He and Bakugo were ushered onto a bus with All Might, and the tension was so thick that Izuku could choke on it. They headed toward their exam in complete silence, and Izuku kept several paces between himself and Bakugo once they exited the bus. 

“Now… this is where we’ll fight!” All Might said, gesturing to a massive cityscape.

“Um, fight?” Izuku squeaked. “You can’t expect us to beat you. No matter what we do, that would be impossible.”

“Pessimistic and impatient, I see! Allow me to explain! The time limit is thirty minutes. Your objective is to either get these handcuffs on me--” All Might held up said handcuffs. “--or for one of you to escape the area.”

One look at Bakugo told Izuku that there was no chance of him agreeing to escape. ‘All Might said it himself earlier. We have to work together to pass. I don’t believe that abandoning him will go over well, not when it’s clear that they’re trying to force us to get along. Why couldn’t they just let me avoid him? One person, I ask to be left alone by one person.’

“Your decision-making is being tested too! Of course, given the rules and circumstances, I’m sure that you believe running is the only option.” Bakugo scoffed as All Might held up several metal bracelets. “That’s why we had the support department make these! They’re ultra-compressed weights that’ll weigh me down with an extra 50% of my body weight!”

All Might attached two to each arm and one to each of his legs, and Izuku felt at least slightly better about the fact that he was going to be forced to fight All Might now. He didn’t feel any better about who he was being forced to fight him with, though.

“Are you trying to bring this fight down to our level or something? That’s insulting.” Bakugo looked pissed at the very idea, and Izuku felt like he was a few minutes away from having a breakdown.

‘A disaster. This is going to be a disaster.’

All Might only laughed and said, “We’ll see!”

Izuku could barely register what was going on as everyone got into position. Only the distant sound of an intercom announcing the start of the test snapped him out of it, and Izuku just quietly followed Bakugo, hoping to avoid any conflict here. 

“Stop following me! Beating him down is the best option, and I don’t need your fucking power to do it!”

‘If only I could be so lucky,’ Izuku thought with a sigh. “Didn’t you hear All Might? He said we have to work together. There are probably secret points like with the entrance exam. Running off alone defeats the whole point of the test!”

“He’s not taking us seriously,” Bakugo continued, ignoring Izuku as usual. “So we’ll let him toy with us until the exam is almost over. Then, when he’s exhausted, I’ll let him have it!”

‘As much as I hate to admit it, it’s not even a bad plan. The only issue is that we could do it much quicker if we worked together.’

“This is All Might we’re talking about, Bakugo. Even with the handicap, there’s no way you can beat him alone--”

One of the gauntlets that still haunted his nightmares swung around to hit him in the face. Izuku rubbed at his cheek as he laid on the asphalt, looking up at Bakugo and hating himself for how afraid he was. ‘I promised that I wasn’t going to be afraid of him anymore. So then why…?’

Deep down, Izuku knew that it was because Bakugo hadn’t tried to kill him --at least not directly-- back when he made that promise. It was a bit harder to keep now, especially when faced with the weapons that nearly did him in before.

“Stop talking,” Bakugo snarled. “You think you’re all that? It’s really starting to piss me off.”

“We have to cooperate if we want to pass, Bakugo!”

“You think I need your fucking power to pass?! Forget it!”

Izuku stood up, scrambling after Bakugo as his voice died in his throat. ‘Why? Why does he hate me so much that we can’t even talk?’

Debris went flying as a massive gust of wind cut down the street that they were on. Izuku watched, horrified, as entire buildings crumbled under the force of All Might’s blow. He marched toward them, chuckling as he said, “Don’t think that I’ll be going easy on you.”

‘I’m dead. I’m actually dead this time.’

“Who cares about keeping the town intact?! If you just think of this as a test, then you’re going to be demolished, heroes. I’m a villain. Give me your best shot.”

“Bakugo, we can’t fight him head-on! We need to retreat!”

“You’re not the boss of me!” Bakugo screamed, running forward and aiming his hands toward All Might as he raced toward them. The explosions he let off were more light than heat, but Izuku flinched nonetheless.

“All Might! I knew from the start--” Bakugo’s voice cut off as All Might gripped his head with his hand. “I was expecting this,” he snarled as he set off several explosions at close range, refusing to let All Might’s grip deter him from his attack. If it was any other hero, then it might even have worked.

As it was, Izuku watched in horror as All Might flipped Bakugo and slammed him into the asphalt. “A weak barrage like that does hurt, but only a little. Now then…” All Might made direct eye contact with Izuku as he asked, “You gonna leave your teammate and make a break for it?”

Izuku let One for All flare to life as he jumped up, combining it with Float and hoping beyond all hope that it would buy him a few seconds to trigger and regulate the power on Fa Jin. “Well, that’s just unfortunate.” 

He understood what All Might meant when Bakugo’s explosions grew closer, and though Izuku tried to put more energy in the rise to get out of Bakugo’s way, he reacted too slowly to keep them both from crashing to the ground. 

Bakugo growled as he stood back up and looked around for All Might, moving with determination. “We can’t win like this! Please--”

“Stop talking. I’m gonna win. That’s what heroes do!”

“There’s nothing wrong with admitting you need help! Everyone does sometimes.”

“I said. Stop. Talking,” Bakugo growled with a glare. Izuku gulped, deflating and nodding.

“In the meantime…” All Might’s voice came from above, and by the time Izuku looked up, it was too late to stop the next sequence of events. ‘A guardrail?’ 

“I’ve got a present for the one who wants to run away!” All Might cried out as he slammed Izuku into the ground, caging him by shoving the guardrail into the asphalt. Whether he intended to or not, Izuku wasn’t sure, one of the jagged ends that All Might ripped from the ground pierced through the side of Izuku’s chest.

‘It doesn’t matter how protective my costume is against someone like All Might. He exerts too much force for it to matter.’ A wet cough escaped him and blood dribbled down his lips. Black spots danced in Izuku’s vision as he watched All Might punch Bakugo in the stomach, launching him down the street. A frantic buzz started ringing in his ears. 

“What is that fool doing? First he gives One for All to a child, then he shows no restraint in going against him…” Izuku could barely make out a glowing, lavender man, distantly noting that he was a different shade of purple than Three. “Just keep breathing kid.”

‘Hurts…’

“I know,” the man whispered. His voice was full of sorrow as he said, “I know. He punctured a lung. Just focus on my voice, okay? I’m Hikage Shinomori, though most of the others call me Four. My quirk is Danger Sense, and it allows me to detect any threats in the area. This quirk is yours now too. You will not be surprised by him again. I am right here, and I will not leave you.”

Izuku couldn’t move. He would make things even worse if he tried, coughing and wheezing as he struggled to draw in breath. He couldn’t hear most of what All Might and Bakugo were talking about, but one thing came through loud and clear.

“If you’re saying that I gotta rely on his help, then I’d rather lose!”

“That so? As long as you have no regrets.” All Might reared back his fist, and Izuku’s hand twitched as a single tendril from Blackwhip jerked out to stop All Might in his tracks.

“Daigoro, please help him.”

Banjo reappeared for the first time since the USJ. All Might looked back at Izuku as one tendril became dozens of angry, writhing masses of darkness that trapped the hero no matter how hard he struggled. True to his word, Bakugo refused to capitalize on that moment. Another black tendril snaked around to steal the handcuffs from Bakugo and click them on All Might’s wrists itself. 

“This is an announcement! The first team to pass is Bakugo and Midoriya’s!”

Izuku slumped into the ground as the puddle of blood around him grew even larger, registering two sharp pulses of pain in his head before he fell into oblivion.

-

“Are you even capable of holding back?! Ten minutes. If it had taken him ten minutes longer to capture you, then he’d be dead! He’s lost a lung!”

Recovery Girl’s furious voice was the first thing Izuku heard when he regained consciousness. His fingers twitched as a crippling pain shot through his head again, and Izuku jolted at the sensation with tears spilling from his eyes.

“Young Midoriya, you’re awake--” The pain in his head was screaming at him, and Izuku realized that this must be Danger Sense. All Might was the threat he was sensing. All Might had almost killed him. He had been permanently injured by his mentor’s carelessness twice now.

Black tendrils exploded from him as his heart monitor went haywire. This time, however, they didn’t blindly lash out and destroy everything around them. They all went straight for All Might. Izuku watched as Banjo directed them while standing in front of Izuku’s bed, standing guard with vicious determination written across his face.

‘Why… Why are you protecting me?’

“One for All almost ended with you, kid, and it wasn’t even because of All for One. It doesn’t matter that he didn’t mean to do it. He can’t be trusted with your wellbeing.’

“Out! Get out! You can make your apologies later; I need to tend to my patient now!”

The door slammed shut, and slowly but surely, Danger Sense started to calm. Daigoro brought Blackwhip to heel too, leaving only a few tendrils around as a precaution. 

Recovery Girl’s voice was low and pained when she asked, “Midoriya, are you alright?”

Izuku trembled, shaking his head as he burst into tears.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, my boy. I’m sorry. I’m sorry…” He wasn’t sure when All Might’s vestige showed up, but he trusted the echoes of the hero a lot more than the real thing right now. Izuku only cried harder, mourning the loss of his mentor in every way that mattered.

He couldn’t trust All Might. It would only get him killed.

Chapter Text

Izuku was still twitchy in class the next morning, and though his classmates asked him about what happened, he refused to say a word. He flinched when Aizawa slammed the door open, shrinking down further when the bell rang.

“Everyone be seated.” Aizawa paused as everyone sat at their desks. “Morning. About your final exams… Sadly, we had some failures. But you’ll all be going to the summer camp!”

Ashido, Kaminari, Satou, and Kirishima sobbed with relief. Once the noise died down a bit, Aizawa continued, “Everyone passed the written tests. The practical was where you struggled. Kirishima, Satou, Kaminari, and Ashido, your teams failed as a whole. Sero and Bakugo, on the other hand, failed individually.”

Izuku expected to hear Bakugo start yelling about that, but he only huffed and sulked further into his desk. ‘Small mercies, I suppose.’

“As the villains in this test, we teachers came up with assignments perfectly suited to all of you. Assignments that would give you a chance to come up with winning strategies. If we hadn’t then none of you would’ve stood a chance.”

“So when you said that you were going to crush us…” Ojiro trailed off.

“That was to push you. We’re talking about a training camp, after all. Those of you who failed are the ones who need it most. This was another logical ruse!”

“We’ve been fooled again!” Iida cried out. “I would expect nothing else from UA… But! Now that you’ve lied to us twice, aren’t you worried that our faith in you has been shaken?”

Ochako looked at Iida, looked at Izuku, and mumbled, “Yeah…”

“Perhaps,” Aizawa allowed. “But consider the facts. This wasn’t entirely a lie. A failure is a failure, and the six of you who did fail will be receiving supplemental lessons in addition to the training camp. Quite frankly, it will be far worse than any summer school.”

Aizawa passed out the camp manuals and packing lists, and Izuku boggled at the sheer amount that they would need. Tooru looked at everyone’s expressions and said, “Oh, I know! We’re off tomorrow and our tests are over, so why don’t we all go shopping together as a class?”

Bakugo --to Izuku’s relief-- refused to go and Shouto was visiting his mother, but the rest of the class all agreed to meet up tomorrow. Before Izuku could sneak off, Ochako and Shouto both pulled him aside and asked if they could talk to him. Izuku wanted to bottle everything up and just forget it ever happened, but he knew that wasn’t healthy. ‘I need to be better about this. I can trust them.’ 

So, reluctantly, he agreed to let them both visit.

Izuku locked the door behind them once they got to his apartment, sliding off his shoes and breathing a sigh of relief when he confirmed that his mother wasn’t home yet. The three of them sat down on the couch and leaned against each other, fidgeting and unsure of how to break the awkward silence.

Shouto’s eyes were soft and worried when he said, “Izuku… What happened with your final?”

“I’m glad that Bakugo didn’t pass and all, but you two were the first ones done with your exam… Something went wrong, didn’t it?” Ochako continued, and the concern on both of his friends’ expressions broke Izuku.

He told them everything. He told them about the particularly bad periods of bullying that he’d avoided mentioning the first time he told them about Bakugo. He told them about Bakugo suicide baiting him. He told them about how All Might told Izuku that he couldn’t be a hero, though Shouto already knew that. He told them about how he knew that Bakugo pulled the pin on purpose during the battle trial. He told them that Bakugo had refused to work with him during the finals, to the point of getting violent with him and saying that he would rather lose than win with Izuku’s help. He told them how All Might destroyed Izuku’s lung.

He told them about All Might’s injury. He told them about One for All.

Shouto furrowed his eyebrows in thought, and his serious expression didn’t prepare Izuku for what he said next at all. “So we’re killing All Might, right?”

“Oh definitely,” Ochako answered. “Hurting Izuku is an unforgivable crime, and he’s been doing an awful lot of that.”

“I wonder if the League is recruiting…?” Shouto mumbled.

“Guys!” Izuku cried out. “You can’t joke about that sort of thing!”

He didn’t want them to know that he’d had the same thoughts last night as he laid in bed, heart racing with remembered panic. Izuku couldn’t ally become All for One’s ally, not as the next user of One for All and not after he cheated on Izuku’s mother, but the thought of running fast and far from UA and All Might was tempting. Izuku didn’t want to hurt anyone; he was just tired of constantly hurting.

“I’m not joking.” The menacing aura radiating from Ochako only made her words more believable. “We’re barely through the first term and they keep hurting you! It can’t be anything but intentional at this point. Are they trying to make you develop One for All faster? Trying to force you to be the Symbol of Peace before you even graduate? You made one boundary clear to them Izuku, one! Bakugo was the only person you didn’t want anything to do with, and they forced you to work with him anyway. It was cruel and unnecessary!”

“I’m beginning to understand how heroes like my father can graduate from UA,” Shouto muttered darkly. That remark led to another explanation, catching Ochako up with what they had talked about during the Sports Festival.

Ochako pulled a piece of paper out of her backpack and started writing on it. When Izuku peered over her shoulder to see it, he saw that All Might, Endeavor, and Bakugo’s names were aggressively underlined on it. At Izuku and Shouto’s questioning look, she said, “It’s our hit list.”

They all looked at each other before bursting into laughter, leaning into each other as their laughs morphed into sobs.

“This isn’t right,” Ochako sniffled. “None of this is okay.”

“It’s not. What can we do, though?” Shouto questioned.

“Maybe… maybe we actually could go villain.” Izuku expected One for All to start rioting within him at that, but he was pleasantly surprised by an encouraging buzz that he recognized as his uncle’s energy.

Shouto and Ochako glanced at each other before looking at Izuku and patiently waiting for him to continue. “The League is currently being run by All for One. As his name suggests, he’s the natural enemy of One for All. His quirk lets him take and give quirks except for One for All itself. He’s also my father.”

They both inhaled sharply at that. Izuku gave them a bitter smile and said, “I know right? My father ditched me eleven years ago and wound up being some supervillain. What’re the odds of that? But my point is that he’d be happy to have this quirk back on his side again. I can’t support what he does or the way he hurts people, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t take advantage of his resources. As it stands now, the League of Villains is positioned to shake our society in ways that it needs to be shaken. We would just need to aim them at better targets. The Hero Public Safety Commission. Endeavor… All Might. I hate to say it, but the Symbol of Peace does prop up the system we have now. Things won’t change as long as he’s a hero. Maybe we can just… make him retire a bit earlier.”

“I’m in,” Ochako agreed immediately. “I’m behind you all the way. Besides… I did some digging into the stuff that Mama Midoriya mentioned last time I came over for dinner, you know? The Commission really does own all the construction companies that are contracted to fix things after heroes or villains wreck them. They’ve been slowly choking out family businesses like ours for decades, and they’re doing that with a lot of things! The amount of control they have is scary.”

“My father has been number two for 25 years. That’s all the reason I need to join you. Do you think the others would as well?”

Izuku hummed at Shouto’s question. “It depends on who you’re thinking about. We’ll have to keep an eye on the others and gauge whether or not they’d consider it… We’ll worry about that later. We need to make contact before we can do any of that.”

“You’re right,” Ochako sighed. “Guess we should just focus on our lists for the summer camp for now, huh? Do you need us to grab you anything, Shouto?”

Shouto shook his head before handing both of them a credit card. “No, but use my father’s cards to get anything you need. He won’t notice it anyway.”

“Baby’s first crime,” Ochako whispered. “This seems like a good one to start with. Feels right. Feels like justice.”

Izuku grinned and said, “Here’s to balancing things out, yeah?”

-

The Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall was massive. Izuku had gone a couple of times before, but he didn’t think that he’d ever get used to the sheer size of it.

“Oh! Aren’t they those UA first-years?! You all did great in the Sports Festival!” Izuku flushed under the attention, waving at the crowd of kids their age that recognized them. His classmates all split up and went to get what they needed, leaving just Izuku and Ochako behind. 

“What do you need to get? I’m gonna go get some shoes and new wrist weights. Maybe some stuff for my room too. The All Might thing is kinda…”

Ochako nodded with a serious expression. “I mostly need bug spray, but we may as well take advantage of this, right? Let’s go around together!”

“Oh? Cool, you two are from UA! Can I get your autographs?” a raspy voice called out. Izuku turned to face the man that was talking to them, wondering why he seemed so familiar. “You’re the one who won the Sports Festival, right?! And the girl put up a good fight against that Todoroki kid too…”

Ochako, having been told about the quirks within One for All, looked to Izuku. He shook his head. ‘Danger Sense isn’t going off, so why does this uncanny presence remind me of--’

“Man, I can’t believe that we’d meet again here, hidden boss. It’s something like fate, destiny maybe.” Shigaraki’s hand loosely wrapped around Izuku’s throat, one finger lifted. “Let’s have a chat, Izuku Midoriya. If you don’t want anything to happen to him, then you’ll come along, girl.”

Danger Sense twanged slightly. Izuku was still getting used to interpreting the quirk’s signals, but he had a feeling that Shigaraki wouldn’t be dangerous to them unless they pressed their luck. Izuku’s breathing still sped up, and he hated the way that panic coursed through his veins. ‘I’m not even afraid of Shigaraki! How am I supposed to get him to listen to me if I can’t even catch my breath right now?'

“Okay,” Ochako agreed, smoothly breaking the tension. “We wanted to talk to you anyway.”

Shigaraki blinked at her, narrowing his eyes and saying, “Just act like we’re old pals. Don’t make a scene or try anything funny, and try to look a bit less like you’re about to pass out.” He steered Izuku toward the nearest seating area, and Ochako walked alongside them both, humming lightly under her breath. Izuku appreciated having something to ground himself to.

Once they sat down, Ochako said, “You know that it’ll be less suspicious if you let him go, right? We’re not going to try anything, and Izuku can’t breathe evenly if anyone touches his neck. If the wrong person looks over here, then we won’t be able to talk.”

“You’re awfully chatty,” Shigaraki grumbled. He moved his hand to Izuku’s wrist anyway, and Izuku breathed a sigh of relief as one of his hands slowly massaged his neck. “Hm. Help me figure something out, hidden boss.”

Shigaraki looked out at the crowds of happy, oblivious people as he said, “I pretty much hate everyone and everything, but right now, Stain is pissing me off.”

“So he wasn’t working with you, huh?” Izuku muttered. “I thought it seemed out of character for him to work with a group.”

“You’re right. Society seems to think that he’s with us, and that’s where my problem is. Everyone is watching that damned Stain. Our attack at the USJ and the nomu in Hosu… they’re both being overshadowed by him. No one is noticing us. Why? What makes us so different?”

Shigaraki sounded genuinely frustrated and confused, and Izuku figured that helping him out would only help his case. Danger Sense still wasn’t going off, so he knew it was okay to do this. “What makes you different… People still don’t know what you want to do. They can look at Stain and see the trail of dead, corrupt heroes that he keeps leaving in his wake, and they know what message he’s leaving. He wants heroes to be better. He wants to create change. People can understand that. They can even support it. The message you’re trying to send is less clear right now.”

“That… sounds like advice.”

“And if it was?” Izuku questioned, turning to Shigaraki with a cocked eyebrow.

“You’re not a hidden boss… You’re a recruitable unit!”

Izuku chuckled at Shigaraki’s excitement, nodding as he said, “We are, yes. Ochako, myself, and at least one other person want to join you. The Symbol of Peace… Our society can’t change for the better unless he’s gone.”

“What did All Might do to piss you off? You were defending them all so viciously before.”

“He punctured one of Izuku’s lungs in a final exam,” Ochako hissed. “Izuku almost died!”

Shigaraki’s eyes widened as he studied Izuku’s expression, finding only anger and pain there. “I still care about my friends, but I don’t trust the heroes. I want to create change. I want to help people in a way that matters. The only way that we can do that is by destroying the status quo.”

“Interesting… Suddenly, these hero brats are oh so interesting.” Shigaraki stood up, looking back at them both as he said, “I’ll consider it. I should probably get out of here before either of you are missed.”

“Hey… Can you do me a favor and mention my name to your boss? I think he’ll recognize it.”

“... I don’t see why not,” Shigaraki muttered, waving farewell before weaving through the crowds. It was surreal to see how he blended in with them by moving with a purpose. 

‘No one thinks he’s out of place at all. It helps that no one knows his face, but still…’

Ochako hummed as she stood up, turning to face Izuku as she said, “Guess we’ll have to see how that pans out. Let’s go get our shopping done before people start asking questions.”

Later that evening, an anonymous tip informed the police that Shigaraki was seen at the Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall at the same time as UA students. There was no proof that it was more than a coincidence, but it was still enough that UA changed their summer camp plans and upped their security. Izuku was happy with this outcome.

‘It’s best to cover my tracks in advance. I need to create loopholes for myself with Tsukauchi and his quirk being so heavily involved in investigating the League, and it’s better to be safe than sorry. Besides, I don’t want any of my friends to get hurt just because I want an out. This should protect both them and me.’

-

“I can’t believe so many 1-A kids are getting extra lessons! How could you fail with Izuku helping you?”

“You don’t have any room to talk, Neito. I’m just happy that they all passed the written exams.”

Neito gasped at Izuku’s words, hand splayed over his chest as he said, “You wound me! You know that having me go against Eraserhead alone was unfair!”

“It was meant to drive home the fact that you need to learn to fight without quirks too. I'm glad you got those support rings, but even they won’t help you in every situation.”

“Okay, I’m not the only one who thinks this is surreal, right? What is going on with those two?” Kendou muttered, looking between Neito and Izuku with confusion all over her face.

“It’s obvious, isn’t it?” Shouto tilted his head as everyone from both classes looked at him before saying, “They’re brothers.”

Kaminari burst into laughter. “Oh, Todoroki, that was a good one! They don’t even have the same last name. There’s no way--”

“He’s right, actually,” Neito interrupted. “I wondered when someone would notice. It makes sense that it was someone so close to Izuku.”

‘Huh. I didn’t even get the chance to tell him or Ochako about that yet. I guess that it would be pretty easy to figure out now that he knows about All for One, though. Neito’s quirk functions pretty similarly.’

“What?!” Both classes erupted in shock, volume growing as they talked among themselves and tried to figure out how that was possible.

“You both have to be messing with us!” Sero cried out. “You don’t even look anything alike!”

As funny as it was to watch everyone freak out, Izuku decided to nip it in the bud. “We wouldn’t stop being brothers if one of us was adopted, but I may as well explain. We don’t look alike because we both take after our mothers. It just turns out that Neito and I share an absent father.”

“What?!” Tooru cried out. “I bet they weren’t happy to find out about that. Mama Midoriya doesn’t strike me as the type to not tell you if she knew…”

“Our moms were pissed. They were happy that we found each other and started gleefully plotting a way to make him pay for it, but they were pissed that it happened at all,” Neito agreed with a nod. “The bastard told my mom he wasn’t interested in marriage while being married to Izuku’s mom for over a year before he’d met her.”

“I still can’t believe you’re older than me,” Izuku grumbled. He enjoyed having a sibling to spend time with --especially since they got to spend more time together over summer break-- but Neito lorded those two months over him relentlessly. ‘Was Mom struggling to have me? Did All for One get impatient with whatever he was hoping to get out of a kid only to wind up with two at once or…? How much of the time he spent at “work” was spent with the opposite family, I wonder?’

“Families can be quite complicated,” Fumikage said solemnly, and Izuku mentally made a note to ask him about that later. ‘Something about his voice seems… sad. There’s something there. It’ll just be a matter of if he’ll feel safe enough to talk to me about it.’

Aizawa’s voice cut through their conversation. “Everyone, get on the buses. We need to get a move on.”

Both classes split off as they did that, excitedly chatting about all the things they wanted to do with each other at camp. Aizawa told them that they’d be stopping in about an hour before leaving them to it, and Izuku was glad that Iida chose to sit next to him.

‘I know that I have no chance of convincing him to be anything but a hero, but I’ll enjoy moments like this while I still can.’

When their bus stopped, Izuku was immediately suspicious. They parked on an overhang looking out into a forested mountain range, and he could see nothing around that would explain why they chose to stop here. ‘1-B’s bus kept going too… This reeks of one of Aizawa-sensei’s traps.’

“Heya Eraser!”

Izuku turned to look at the origin of that voice, ignoring his teacher’s response as green eyes sparkled with glee. ‘No way! Are we training with one of the few hero teams that are out there?!’

“Rock on with these sparkling gazes!”

“Strikingly cute and catlike!”

“We’re the Wild, Wild Pussycats!” Mandalay and Pixie-Bob cried out. The young boy that they’d brought with them seemed unimpressed by all of this, but Izuku was too excited to do more than distantly acknowledge that.

“These are the pros that will be helping us out with the training camp this year.”

“The Wild, Wild Pussycats!! They’re the most prominent hero team in our time! Mandalay, Pixie-Bob, Ragdoll, and Tiger form a veteran team that specializes in mountain rescues, and they’ve been going strong for twelve years now--”

Pixie-Bob was in front of Izuku before he could blink, putting a gloved hand over his mouth as she said, “We’re eighteen at heart!”

‘Yeesh, okay. I won’t mention age around her.’

“The whole area here is our territory,” Mandalay told them. She pointed across the horizon and said, “Your lodging is at the foot of that mountain over there.”

Izuku wasn’t the only one who realized what was happening here. They all started running for the bus, and Mandalay laughed as she said, “It’s 9:30 now, so I’m thinking… At the earliest, you’ll be there at noon. Kitties who don’t make it to camp by 12:30 don’t get lunch!”

The earth started crumbling beneath them, and while Izuku saw it coming --he knew exactly what Pixie-Bob could do, after all-- he still got caught in the swarm of dirt that deposited them all in the forest.

“This is our private property, so feel free to use your quirks! You’ve got three hours to reach the facility! Make it through… the Beast’s Forest!”

‘Knowing how Pixie-Bob’s quirk works, that name is going to be a lot more literal than everyone thinks. I need to--’ Danger Sense blared as a gigantic, earthen monster with no eyes and a gaping maw landed in front of them, snarling so loudly that the nearby birds took to the skies in fear.

“Calm yourself, creature. Please, back down!” Kouda pleaded, and Izuku leapt in front of him, demolishing the monster with Blackwhip before it got the chance to attack.

“They’re not living! The monsters are made by Pixie-Bob’s quirk!” Izuku floated off the ground, humming as he released even more black tendrils. “Anyone else feel like flying over this forest? I’ll need some attackers ready to keep the beasts from jumping up and hitting us while I’m carrying you all, but…”

Bakugo scoffed before stomping off on his own, but everyone else stayed where they were. Dark Shadow emerged from Fumikage and wrapped him up in their arms, floating them up as well. “We can fly point and guard you. We’ll all make faster time this way.”

Izuku smiled. “Thank you, Fumikage. Shouto, Ochako, Yaoyorozu, Iida… I’ll have you four at the outer corners. Let’s get moving.”

Fumikage took to the skies and Izuku followed suit, bringing up seventeen of his classmates with Blackwhip. They didn’t fly as fast as they could have alone, but they steadily made their way toward the camp and left the sound of screaming and explosions behind them. The monsters did leap up and try to grab them from the sky, but between Shouji and Jirou listening for them and Izuku’s Danger Sense, they weren’t ever caught off guard. 

The crumbled remains of dozens of beasts fell into the forests below them. 

Izuku snickered when, to his surprise, they beat the buses there. ‘I guess we did take a more direct path. The bus has to go pretty slow around all the curving roads winding up and down mountains, but something tells me that they weren’t prepared for us to get here so early.’

“You’re a life-saver, man!” Kaminari sobbed as Izuku put them all down. “My quirk wouldn’t have done anything to those things.”

“Happy to help! No need to make us all slog through it if we can just go over.”

“I’m worried about Bakugo though… You think he’ll make it out alright on his own?” Kirishima questioned.

“We couldn’t force him to come with us. He’s just as capable of flying over the forest with his explosions anyway, even if he would have to take a few breaks. He’ll be fine.” Izuku didn’t care either way, but he was glad to see that his words reassured Kirishima.

When Aizawa, Mandalay, Pixie-Bob, and the kid got to the camp ten minutes later, all of 1-A started snickering at their expressions. Aizawa looked done with life, Mandalay and Pixie-Bob looked shocked, and the kid looked so fed up with the whole thing that it was funny.

“Where’s Bakugo?” Aizawa asked with a sigh.

Izuku shrugged and said, “I tried, but you know how he is about me. I wasn’t going to punish the rest of the class because he refused to cooperate.”

“I knew that you could fly, but I didn’t realize you could carry the other kittens like that! What even is your quirk?!” Pixie-Bob cried out.

“Accumulator. I gather, store, and use different kinds of energy. It’s versatile, but it’s also incredibly finicky. I still have a lot of room for improvement.”

“I don’t get it,” Ashido mumbled. “How is the strongest guy in class so humble?”

“Well, we were going to make a big dinner for everyone once they got back, but I guess you’ll start cooking for yourselves a day early.”

A few of his classmates groaned at that, but Izuku was pretty excited to cook for everyone. Aizawa had them get their luggage off the bus and put them in their rooms before directing them to the kitchen, and they all worked together to help Mandalay and Pixie-Bob get everything going.

‘I wonder where 1-B is… Are they doing something with Ragdoll and Tiger? The forest jaunt wouldn’t work with them, but maybe they’re being forced to spar or something.’ Izuku shrugged it off and chopped more vegetables for the curry they were making, using a single tendril to grab Sero’s hand before he could dump an entire shaker of salt into rice.

“Wha-- Oh! Sorry man, didn’t realize the top was loose.” Sero tightened the salt shaker, staring at it suspiciously for a few moments before cautiously adding some in.

Izuku could tell that the majority of his classmates had never cooked before. Ashido, Kaminari, Sero, Shouto, Yaoyorozu, and Iida struggled the most, but he delegated them to the things that were harder to mess up and stationed a more experienced cook nearby. Himself, Tsuyu, Satou, Tooru, Kouda, and Fumikage moved around the stovetops with purpose, directing the others in a way that resulted in a meal that lifted all of their spirits.

The kid grumbled a bit as he took a plate and sat as far away from their class as possible, and Izuku turned to Mandalay and asked, “Whose kid is he?”

“Kouta is my nephew. We’re looking out for him, so he’ll be with us all week. Sorry if he’s a bit snappy. He doesn’t really like… people.”

‘Noted. I’ll make sure to give him space.’

1-A spent the rest of the day relaxing, and once it started getting later, they helped Mandalay and Pixie-Bob make the big dinner they originally planned to surprise them with. Cooking up a bunch of meat and fish was fun --Izuku didn’t usually get the chance to work with some of the more expensive stuff-- even though he had to watch his classmates much more closely while they made this.

‘It’s kind of funny that Danger Sense warned me about someone overcooking a steak but didn’t warn me about Shigaraki. Talk about a skewed sense of urgency.’ Izuku knew that it was because, in the end, Shigaraki hadn’t been a threat to them and that Shinomori was just trying to be helpful here, but it still had him snickering under his breath. A pulse of similarly amused energy came from Shinomori right before another light warning from Danger Sense pinged. Izuku barely managed to keep Iida from mangling the fish that needed to be filleted, taking over for him and sending him to help Satou.

Bakugo got to the camp about an hour into prep. He was covered in dirt and massaging his wrists, but he looked unbearably smug about the fact that he proved he could go through the forest on his own. ‘Whatever, Bakugo. Acting so pridefully will be the end of you one day.’ 

They ate dinner together, and afterward, everyone went to the baths. Izuku currently stood in one of three private stalls, dismayed by the fact that there were only waist towels here. ‘Everyone was going to see them eventually, but…’ He sighed before biting the bullet and stepping out into the changing room.

Shocked silence and wide eyes all around. “Midoriya, bro…” Kirishima’s voice was thick with horror. “What happened to you?”

Kaminari, displaying an emotional intelligence that Izuku needed to give him more credit for, said, “Yeah, man, how’d you get so jacked?! You’re so deceptively small in your uniform and costume.”

Izuku appreciated the attempt, but he knew that his classmates weren’t going to let this go. They only ever saw the scar on his neck before today, but now they were getting a full view of the tragedy written on his body. Three starburst scars traveled from his stomach to his chest on his right side, getting larger as they went up. Both of Izuku’s shoulders were more burn scar than healthy tissue; they bore the brunt of most of Bakugo’s rage for years. And though they can’t see it, there was another, huge starburst on his back from when Izuku tried to walk away from Bakugo to avoid another beatdown. He never made that mistake again.

Those weren’t the scars that everyones’ eyes kept trailing back to, though. On Izuku’s left side, in a haunting imitation of All Might’s scar, there was a jagged, circular scar that webbed out from the point of impact. The guardrail that All Might shoved through his chest had not only punctured his lung but also embedded him in the asphalt, leaving a mangled mess that his mother had sobbed and raged over. The only reason that she hadn’t pulled him from UA entirely was because he’d looked her in the eye and promised to make them pay for it.

Izuku looked Bakugo in the eye as he said, “The finals happened.” He walked out to the baths before anyone could question him more on the subject, sighing in relief as he sat his towel down and sank into the water next to Shouto.

They basked in a comfortable silence until the rest of their classmates joined them, and a pointed glare from Shouto kept anyone from asking questions. Not everyone had gotten into the water yet, though, and Mineta was staring at the wooden wall and muttering to himself in a way that made Izuku’s skin crawl.

“Mineta. What are you doing?”

Mineta pressed his ear against the wall and said, “Yes… They’re really there. I guess that boys and girls don’t have different bath times here. We might just have to have a little accident here.”

“Stop this at once, Mineta! What you’re considering would bring great shame to you and our female classmates!” Iida cried out.

“So strict…” Mineta muttered before jerking around and rushing up the wall, making the wood rattle with his speed. He only climbed up a few of his orbs before Blackwhip snagged him and tore him off the wall, mercilessly throwing him into the water.

“I will punt you into the sun, Mineta,” Izuku growled. “You’ll be staying right where I can see you.”

“Thanks Izuku!” Ochako cried out.

“Mineta is the worst. How is he still here?” Jirou grumbled.

Yaoyorozu sighed before saying, “I… do not know, frankly."

Kouta peered over the wall and sneered down at Mineta as he said, “A hero, really? Try learning how to be a decent person first.”

“Yeah! Don’t grow up like him, Kouta!” Tooru called out. Kouta instinctively turned to the source of the voice, flinching back and toppling over the wall. Izuku gently snagged Kouta with Blackwhip. He got out of the water and wrapped the towel back around himself when he saw that the kid was out cold, deciding that he should take him to Mandalay. 

“Shouto, Iida, watch Mineta.”

Izuku quickly threw on some clothes and brought Kouta to Mandalay, laying him down on a couch in her office as he explained what happened.

“Thank you. He must have passed out from fear as he fell… We put him on guard up there since Eraser warned us that one of his students was the embodiment of lust.”

‘If Aizawa-sensei knows, then why does he keep letting it happen? Letting someone like Mineta get into a position of power would be a nightmare, and it’s disgusting that Mineta just keeps getting away with stuff like this.’ Izuku plastered on a smile and said, “I’m just glad that he didn’t get hurt.”

“You’ve got a good reaction time. Keep honing that.”

Izuku nodded, looking down at Kouta and thinking about the disdain he heard when the boy mentioned heroes. ‘It could just be scorn for Mineta, but he doesn’t seem to like heroes in general either. Is… is he safe here?’

“Kouta… doesn’t seem to like heroes very much,” Izuku hedged cautiously.

Mandalay sighed. “You noticed that, huh?”

“Hard not to. Most kids grow up looking up to heroes. Guess I just wondered why he doesn’t…”

“There are quite a few people in our society who don’t look up to heroes, but he probably wouldn’t have been one of them if he’d been raised normally.”

“Normally…?” Izuku didn’t like the sound of that at all. Mandalay was making it sound like whatever it was that made Kouta upset about heroes meant something was wrong with him. ‘It’s not that surprising for a hero to say something like that, but still… He has to feel lonely. Do they try to understand him at all?’

“Mandalay’s cousins were Kouta’s parents,” Pixie-Bob’s voice cut in. She walked into the room while balancing a tea tray, setting it down on a table. “They were heroes who died in the line of duty.”

Mandalay continued, saying, “Two years ago, they were protecting civilians from a villain. There’s no better way for heroes to meet their end. It was an honorable death. But… a boy who’d only just started learning about the world couldn’t understand that.”

The strange tone in both of their voices sent a chill up Izuku’s spine. ‘No, that’s not… You fight to live, not to die. You can’t save other people if you don’t save yourself first! That’s especially true if you have people waiting for you at home. If you’re spouting crap like this around Kouta, then it’s no wonder he hates heroes.’

“Kouta’s parents were still his entire world. To him, it was like they’d left him all alone, but society kept praising what they did. They kept saying their actions were great and noble. I don’t think that Kouta likes us very much either, but with no one else to look after him, he cooperates. To him, heroes are just… nasty people that he can’t understand.”

‘If you understand that much, then why… Why would you say those things? It’s like you know how he feels and just don’t care about it.’

Izuku decided then and there that he was going to extend his hand to Kouta. He was painfully aware of what it felt like to be alone in the world, after all.

Chapter Text

Izuku wanted to scream when he woke up at 4:00 on the dot. However, that would be inconsiderate to his sleeping classmates, so he sucked it up and went outside to do some stretches. He’d spent most of his summer recovering and increasing his single lung’s capacity, and it showed in how well he was doing now. He looked up to the sky that he’d flown through yesterday with a smile.

‘It’s nice to see the stars. They’re so much clearer out here.’

“I missed this,” Yoichi said with a sad smile. “Seeing the world through a holder’s eyes was just never quite the same. Being able to feel the breeze while staring into the night sky… Thank you for being the reason I can do that again.”

‘It’s no trouble. I’m just glad you’re not stuck in my head all the time. I doubt it’s a very fun place to be.’

A warm, ghostly hand carded through Izuku’s hair as he took a breather, laying back in the grass so that he had a better view. His uncle laid down right next to him, chuckling as he said, “I can think of worse fates. I’d hate to see what's going on in my brother’s head at all times.”

‘I won’t let that happen.’

“I know you won’t. You’re probably the best chance we’ve had in a while of him not killing us outright. Some of the others may still be wary, but I have every faith in you. If you were going to stop caring about people, then that would’ve happened a long time ago.”

Izuku laughed softly, knowing exactly what his uncle meant. It would’ve been far too easy for Izuku to give up on people as a whole --to write them all off as cruel and horrible because of how they treated him-- but he hadn’t. He just wanted all of this to stop. He wanted people to see each other as people. He wanted to tear down a society that was defunct if there weren’t people suffering for it. 

He wanted to give everyone a chance at happiness.

“You’re a good kid. We’ll all be here to stop you if you start going too far, but I doubt it’ll come to that.”

The two of them watched the sunrise together, enjoying the cool breeze that rustled through the trees and made the grass around them sway. Izuku knew that he was going to have a hard time being surrounded by people at all times --he enjoyed spending time with others, but he needed time alone to relax too-- so he decided that he’d spend the rest of his mornings recharging like this. ‘Not like I’d be able to sleep in anyway.’

“What are you doing out here, kid?” Aizawa’s voice called out, sounding distant enough to be from the entrance of the lodge.

“That’s my cue. Good luck, Izuku. I hope your training goes well.” Yoichi faded away with a smile, and Izuku was glad that the vestiges had more control over when they showed up and disappeared now.

‘Will that keep improving as I get a better grasp on One for All? Only one way to find out, I guess.’ The grass crunched beneath approaching footsteps, and Izuku blinked when Aizawa’s concerned face blocked out his view of the sky. He flushed when he realized that he never answered his teacher’s question. “Oh! Sorry, I usually wake up early to train and now it’s a habit. I didn’t want to wake anyone else up.”

Aizawa accepted that reasoning with a nod before leaving to wake up the rest of the class. Izuku laughed as the others staggered out of the lodge, yawning and looking like they had just rolled out of bed. The only classmates that looked composed were Shouto, Iida, and Fumikage, but Izuku knew that Fumikage was exhausted despite his neutral expression.

“Morning, kids. The real training camp starts today. Our goal is to prepare you all for getting your provisional licenses, so don’t think that this is going to be easy.”

‘First-years with provisional licenses? I’ve never heard of them letting people take the test that early! Second-years, sure, but first-years?’

“There’s a hostile force growing out there. You all need to grow quickly; we don’t have time to waste.” Aizawa threw one of the quirk assessment baseballs at Bakugo. “We’ll start here. Your record at the beginning of the year was 705.2 meters, right, Bakugo? How much have you grown since then?”

“Oh! You’re testing to see if we’ve improved? We’ve been through a lot these past three months, so I bet he can make it a whole kilometer! Throw that sucker, Bakugo!” Ashido cheered.

Izuku was proud of himself for not flinching at the explosion that launched the baseball into the sky. It eventually fell back down, landing in the middle of the dense forest that surrounded them. ‘I doubt we’ll be able to find that again. I don’t see any other baseballs either, so Aizawa-sensei is probably trying to prove a point with this.’

“709.6 meters,” Aizawa said as he flipped the tracker around, showing the number to the class. 

‘Ah, so that’s what this is about.’

“Yes, you have been through a lot these past few months. There’s no doubt that you have all grown. However, only your techniques and minds have grown substantially. Your quirks haven’t kept up with the pace. Starting today, we’ll be changing that. It’s going to be hell, but you’ll all become stronger for it.”

What followed that statement was training that bordered on torture, forcing everyone to surpass their limits as quickly as possible. Ochako had to negate her gravity as the clear ball she was in was hurled down a hill. Shouto had to make ice while standing in a vat of boiling water, and to make matters worse, he had to maintain the heat of the water himself. Yaoyorozu had to eat so much food that she looked sick as she kept producing a constant stream of items. 

Everyone looked miserable.

‘This… this isn’t okay. There’s a difference between pushing your limits and ignoring them completely. Training like this gets people killed on the field. Hostages who die because a hero thinks they can do more than they can, heroes who die because they buy into our society’s belief that heroes always win, and villains who die because of excessive force encouraged by exercises like this… UA is part of the problem. Hero schools are part of the problem. How did I not see that before?’

Izuku seethed, and if Blackwhip writhed with fury as he dodged Tiger’s blows, then it was hidden by the tendrils wrapping around the hero and throwing him into a tree.

-

When he saw Kouta stomp away from the camp without eating dinner, Izuku quickly finished his own and grabbed another plate. He followed the kid’s footprints until he found him sitting in front of a cave, looking over the forest from the cliffside as he grumbled.

“Hey… thought you might be hungry.”

Kouta jerked in surprise, turning to face Izuku with a fierce glare as he said, “I don’t want it! I don’t like being around you people, so get away from my secret base.”

“I can do that if you want. I can also leave it here and leave you alone too. I’m sorry for intruding.”

“You…” Kouta’s mouth slackened with shock, and it took him several moments before he collected himself enough to keep talking. “I don’t get you guys. Improving your quirks, stretching them all to the limit… Flaunting your power like that is so gross.”

It was understandable that he felt that way. ‘It’s not often that a hero duo dies in the line of duty together, and since it happened two years ago… They had to be Water Hose. That was a particularly brutal scene.’

Izuku knew better than to bring that up though. Instead, he sat down and looked up to the sky, nodding as he said, “I agree with you.”

“Don’t just say that!” Kouta snarled. “If you did, then you wouldn’t be here!”

“I’m here because I want to change it. Becoming a hero was the only way I could think of to get people to listen.”

“... What do you mean?”

“Heroes and villains… I think everyone forgets that we’re all people. The fact that we glamorize killing each other is disgusting, and you’re a really smart kid for seeing that.” Izuku chuckled bitterly before shaking his head and saying, “Everyone is so obsessed with quirks too. I think that they’re cool, but people act like they’re the only thing that matters. They’re not. There’s so much more to people than their quirks.”

Kouta’s expression softened as Izuku talked and he scooted closer to Izuku before saying, “You really do understand… Why don’t those other idiots get it? What makes you different?”

“I’ve only had my quirk for about half a year.”

“Huh?”

Izuku looked over at Kouta and said, “My quirk is… really weird. I lived over ten years thinking I didn’t have a quirk at all, and everyone except my mother hated me until I had one.” Izuku tilted his head to the right, and the shirt slid just enough to show the scarring on his neck and shoulder. 

Kouta’s eyes followed the movement and widened at what they saw. “That’s so stupid! Why would that do that?”

“I don’t know,” Izuku whispered. “But I promised myself that I wouldn’t forget that they did. I don’t want anyone else to ever go through that again. I think that training our quirks like this does more harm than good, but I also know that if I fight it too much, then I’ll lose the only chance I have at making things better for kids like you. I don’t want things to stay like this.”

“I was watching you earlier, you know? I’ve never seen Tiger struggle so much against someone.”

Izuku hummed, wondering where Kouta was going with this. The kid looked up at him, fierce determination lining his features as he said, “You’re strong now. Make them listen.”

A smirk tugged at Izuku’s lips before he could hide it. He wondered if Kouta realized what he was insinuating, but the serious expression on his face told Izuku that he did. ‘His hatred for our society is enough to overcome his hatred for the villains who want to destroy it. I doubt he’d feel the same way about Muscular, but no one would blame him for that.’

“I plan to.”

“Good. Then you can hang around, I guess.”

-

Another day of grueling training followed, and Izuku thought that he was going to lose it when Danger Sense kept alerting him all day, insistently warning him of something that he couldn’t prove or explain to anyone else. The only thing that was different about the day was that they were doing a test of courage once the sun went down, though the people in remedial classes were being pulled aside for more lessons instead. Izuku was glad for the break and was even happier when they drew lots and he wound up on Shouto’s team, but Danger Sense wouldn’t be quiet.

The students in 1-B were disappointed when neither Izuku nor Shouto reacted to their jumpscares, but it was to be expected. They had both seen real horrors that couldn’t be replicated by a bunch of kids playing around, no matter how on edge they were because Izuku signaled that something was going to happen. 

They both froze when they smelled something burning.

“Bakugo’s in the lodge, you haven’t used your fire, and 1-B doesn’t have any fire quirks. That means…”

“Villains."

They both looked at each other and nodded, determination lining their features. If these villains bothered to track them down to the summer camp, then the odds of it being the League of Villains was high. Izuku and Ochako had told Shouto about the conversation they had with Shigaraki at the mall, so if they got the opportunity, then they were going to try to use the chaos to talk with the League.

‘Is this what Danger Sense has been so frantic about? That doesn’t make sense. It didn’t warn me about Shigaraki the first time… Has he decided against accepting us? Or is it something else?’

Danger Sense screamed, nearly crippling Izuku in a way that it hadn’t since he first activated it. He staggered, only stayed on his feet because of Shouto, and froze when he realized what was wrong.

“Kouta!”

Shouto’s eyes widened. “Go! I’ll see if I can find where the fire is coming from.”

“Be careful!” Izuku shouted as he took to the skies, wrapping Blackwhip around every part of himself but his eyes in an improvised camouflage technique. ‘I can’t risk them seeing me up here. I’d never forgive myself if I led more people right to him.’

“Everyone!” Mandalay’s voice cried out telepathically. “We’re under attack by two villains claiming to be part of the League! All those who can need to return to camp immediately. If you encounter an enemy, then do not engage! Just retreat!”

“Foolish,” Three scoffed as he leapt from tree to tree beneath Izuku. “When did heroes stop doing what was necessary? Against villains under All For One, there is no choice but to defend yourself. These children won’t be shown the mercy that you might be.”

Izuku’s eyes locked onto the cliffside that Kouta frequented, widening when he saw a hulking figure in a cloak towering over the kid. He swooped in just as the muscles on the man’s arms expanded and swung downward, cracking the earth beneath where Kouta had just been standing.

“Hm? Now you were on the list. It’s a shame that Shigaraki wants you alive, but he didn’t say anything about the kid.”

Kouta was trembling and crying behind Izuku, whimpering as he said, “H-he’s the one who…”

“I know, Kouta. I know. Everything is going to be okay. I’m gonna protect you.”

Muscular laughed, and one look at him told Izuku that the muscle villain was underestimating who he was up against. ‘Fine by me. Just makes taking him down easier’

“Do whatever it takes, Nine. This is not a villain you can reason with.”

“You’re going to protect him? You hero types sure do like saying things like that. Shigaraki may want you alive, but that doesn’t mean I can’t beat you bloody!” Muscular lunged forward, but Danger Sense had Izuku reacting before the man even started moving. He darted back while holding Kouta, flickering away using Fa Jin and hiding him up in a tree before rushing back to face Muscular alone.

“Teleporting? Don’t know why he wants that when we already have Kurogiri, but whatever. I’ll just go find the kid later.”

Izuku let a feral grin take over his face as One for All crackled around him, and the flickering light made Blackwhip’s tendrils blend in even better, snaking behind Muscular without catching his attention. “I’d like to see you try.”

“Tch, cocky. They’re gonna have fun putting you back together, brat!”

Danger Sense didn’t even need to warn him when Muscular swung a muscle-reinforced fist in his direction. Between One for All and the enhanced reflexes he needed to use Fa Jin, it looked like Muscular was moving in slow motion. He ducked just beneath the attack, grinning as Blackwhip snaked around Muscular’s neck and tightened. Muscular’s eye widened in shock as he thrashed and tried to escape Izuku’s grip, but it was no use. Even a nomu couldn’t break Blackwhip’s hold, and Muscular was no nomu. Izuku danced away from the destruction that Muscular’s desperate thrashing was causing.

“If you break the cliff beneath you, then you’re going to wind up turning a chokehold into a noose,” Izuku taunted as Blackwhip started pressing more firmly around Muscular’s neck. “It’s types like you that I hate the most, you know? So full of themselves and the power they hold, wanting nothing more than to hurt people because they can. You make me sick. Do you think that I’d lose sleep at night if I killed you?”

Muscular clawed at the tendrils around his neck, tugging so hard that his fingers started bleeding. Izuku tilted his head, giggling softly as he asked, “Would you like to find out?”

“Much longer and you’ll kill him,” Three warned. Izuku knew that Three wouldn’t care if that was the outcome of this --not a single holder of One for All had clean hands, and Three admitted that he and Two’s were the bloodiest-- but he wasn’t ready to cross that line yet, not for real. They all knew that. 

Izuku let go, watching Muscular gasp for air in a way that made his chest ache with sympathy. Muscular shuddered, stumbled, and fell to the ground as his eyes rolled into the back of his head. Izuku cautiously walked over to check the man’s pulse, relieved to find it weakly fluttering. ‘Good. I wasn’t doing CPR on this dick.’

“My, my, you’re so violent. It’s no wonder that Shigaraki wants to speak with you. I must admire the showmanship, though.”

Izuku turned around to see a man in a surprisingly bright costume, but the bright orange trench coat didn’t matter when he had a mask completely covering his face. ‘That’s smart. He’s covering all identifying features while making it look flamboyant instead of suspicious.’

“Seems like he’s been busy recruiting. Now, do you get your jollies by torturing little kids, or are we going to be capable of having a civil conversation?”

Danger Sense would still be warning him if this man was a threat, but asking that question also served to let him know why Izuku had so ruthlessly gone after Muscular. He didn’t want protecting Kouta to get him in hot water with the rest of the League.

“Ah, so that’s why… No, Midoriya, I’m not in this to hurt children.”

Izuku relaxed, dropping his fighting stance and letting his quirks rest beneath his skin. Three sighed before disappearing, and Izuku completely focused his attention on the villain before him. “You have me at a disadvantage, I’m afraid. Is there something I can call you?”

“Oh! How rude of me. I’m Mr. Compress. I take it that you’re coming along willingly, then?”

“I’ll come with you so long as you make sure Kouta stays safe. I’m not going to leave him in the middle of a forest fire.”

“That’s doable.” Danger Sense was still relaxed, so Izuku gestured toward a tree that Mr. Compress leapt up to, landing with a blue marble rolling between his fingers. He reached up to an earpiece and pressed a button before saying, “Our objective has been acquired! As planned, be at the evacuation point within five minutes of this transmission.”

Izuku’s world morphed into a weird, glassy blue. Everything was disjointed and disconnected until, very suddenly, it wasn’t. A burned, stapled hand firmly gripped his shoulder, and the first thing Izuku saw was Shouji holding Kouta close. ‘Good. He kept his word…’

Shouto looked into his eyes and steeled himself when he saw the resolve there, simply yelling, “Izuku!”. Only Izuku and Ochako would realize that he wasn’t crying out in fear or despair.

‘Don’t worry, Shouto. I’ll make sure that they know you’re with me too.’ Izuku gave his classmates and Kouta a reassuring smile before saying, “Don’t… follow.”

-

Right after stumbling through the warp gate, Izuku dissolved into giggles. ‘I really didn’t expect such a convincing performance from Shouto.’

Shigaraki looked over at where the group of villains was standing, eyebrow twitching as he said, “Dabi, let go of him. He’s here because he wants to be.”

Dabi removed his hands immediately, and Izuku spun around, beaming as he said, “Thank you! You really sold that whole kidnapping thing.”

“... Whatever.”

Izuku looked over at where Shigaraki was sitting, tilting his head as he asked, “So, are you letting me join the League?”

“You really want to join?!” a blonde girl cried out. “Oh, I’m so happy. You seem so cool, Izuku! My name is Himiko Toga, but you can call me Himiko!”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, Toga,” Shigaraki grumbled. A single red eye peered out from behind the hand on Shigaraki’s face, locking onto Izuku as he said, “He still has to talk with Sensei.”

“So that’s what you’re calling him, huh?” Izuku muttered. His eyes flicked over to the television as it switched on, displaying a blank screen with the words ‘audio only’ in the center. “Hello, Father,” Izuku said with a smirk. “It’s been far too long.”

“What?!”

The entire bar was a cacophony of noise, and All for One’s menacing laughter was the only thing that could cut through it. “So you do know. How could that be? Inko doesn’t know that I’m a villain of this caliber, and All Might would have nothing to do with you if he knew.”

Yoichi appeared by Izuku’s side, resting his hand on Izuku’s shoulder as he said, “My brother will find this situation too amusing to resist as long as you keep him engaged. You can do this. I believe in you.”

“One for All told me,” Izuku said bluntly. Having the ghosts of people that my father murdered living in my head is very strange.”

“Truly? How interesting… This seems like the sort of conversation that we should have in person. Kurogiri, bring me to the bar.”

All for One appeared before them all, and Izuku’s eyes widened as he took in the damage to his father’s face. All for One sighed and put on his helmet --one that whirred to life and looked like it was designed to help him breathe-- before saying, “It’s a horrific sight, no? Surely you understand why I couldn’t let you or your mother see me this way.”

“Don’t try to pull that shit with me. You disappeared long before you and All Might fought.”

“You’re quite furious with me, aren’t you? Why is it that you wish to join the League if you feel that way?”

“If he’s going to use emotional manipulation like this, then I suggest that you do the same. One of the few soft spots he has is for family.”

Izuku sighed before saying, “I can recognize that hero society needs to be destroyed while still being angry that you left me for dead.”

“I did no such thing.”

The entire bar was tense with the pressure emanating from both All for One and, to a lesser extent, Izuku. The League kept looking back and forth between the two, listening with wide eyes as the two argued.

“Being quirkless in our society is a death sentence and you know it,” Izuku snarled. “You were the one person in the world who could have quietly changed that without anyone questioning it. Do you expect me to believe that you don’t have some telekinesis, fire-breathing, or pyrokinesis quirk that you could have passed off as natural?”

“... Has it truly gotten that bad?”

“I was seen as a testing dummy for the other kids to use their quirks on, and if I dared to defend myself, then I was the one in the wrong. Teachers told me that I’d be lucky to make it as a garbage man all the while marking my tests lower than everyone else's because I had to be cheating if I was doing that well. I was suicide baited almost daily for years, and I won’t lie, there was a time where I stood on a rooftop and wondered what it would be like to jump.”

The room was dead quiet. Izuku could hear some quiet, shocked muttering from the villains around him, but he didn’t care about how any of them reacted except for All for One.

“What is it that you want, then?”

“To negotiate terms. You wouldn’t have created One for All if you didn’t want it on your side, and while I’m unwilling to give it to you, that doesn’t mean that we can’t work toward the same thing. If you want me to work with you, then I want quirks and a no-kill list. You can think of it as me suing for emotional damages.”

“How dare--?!”

All for One held up a hand, cutting off Shigaraki’s protest. His father’s raspy chuckling filled the room. “You truly do remind me of Inko.”

“She was the only role model I had, so that’s not surprising,” Izuku sniped.

“Your point has been made, son,” All for One warned, and Danger Sense told Izuku that further antagonization was a bad idea. Seeing how twitchy Izuku was, All for One sighed before gentling his voice and saying, “Let’s negotiate those terms.”

“Don’t forget your plan. Get a quirk that will bind him to his word from him first.”

Izuku’s eyes instinctively flicked over to his left, and All for One hummed before everyone else in the room started freaking out.

“Ghost! There’s a ghost!” A man in a full bodysuit cried out.

“Ah, the quirk that reveals hidden aspects of other people’s quirks. I should have expected that one. Hello again, brother.”

“Hello, Yoichi. Giving my son counsel?”

“He does not need it. I was simply reminding him of what he already planned to do.”

Izuku cleared his throat. Once both his father and uncle were looking at him again, he said, “I would rather get everything settled now. We can’t be sure of just how long we’ll have to talk or when we'll have an opportunity like this again.”

“Very well,” All for One agreed. “What is it that you planned to do, then?”

“I want a contract quirk. Negotiation will be pointless if I can’t trust a word you’re saying.”

“It seems that there’s some of me in you after all. Step forward and I will give one to you.”

When Danger Sense didn’t warn him against it, Izuku did so, holding out his hand as his father took it in his. ‘Huh. He has holes in the palms of his hands. I guess that’s how his quirk works.’ Izuku could feel the instant that the new quirk joined his arsenal, happily buzzing and settling within One for All’s core.

“As I suspected,” All for One muttered. “No quirk that I give you can be taken back. That should be of some comfort to you. This one is called Pact. It’s a quirk that binds both the user and their target to a verbal agreement that they both agree to the terms of, forcing them to keep their word. It’s not something that can be taken back unless both parties agree to it. This quirk would’ve functioned just as well if I kept it, but I have others that I prefer.”

Pact thrummed with excitement, practically begging to be used, and Izuku took to it like a duck to water. He glowed golden as he said, “Then I’ll lay out the terms. We’re negotiating an alliance and cease-fire between the League of Villains and myself. In exchange for my loyalty, I will receive several quirks of my choosing and be allowed to create a no-kill list of people that are under my protection. This means shielding them from you and any of your associates. I will also be allowed to attend UA until such a time that I decide against doing so. Neither myself nor my allies can be revealed to anyone without our explicit consent. Do you have any amendments?”

“In addition to securing an alliance, I would like to ensure that this cycle ends. No user of One for All will ever be able to attack me again, but in exchange, I will not be able to attack them either. I would also like to restrict the number of quirks and people on your list. I will give you ten quirks as part of this deal, and for each quirk, you will be allowed to name one person that will be spared regardless of who they are. All Might is the only exception to that. The ten quirks I’m offering includes Pact as one of them, of course. Do you have any amendments?”

‘I expected him to do something like this. It’s smart to ensure that One for All can’t be used against him even if that means that he can’t attack someone that has One for All either, at least not directly. And we’d be here all day with me putting people under my protection if he didn’t limit me.’

Izuku nodded. “Ten quirks, including Pact, works for me, but I’m going to expand on my no-kill list if it’s going to be so limited. In addition to them being protected from death, I want them to be protected from permanent injury and quirk theft. I also want a family clause. My mother, for example, would be on the protected list as an extension of you not attacking me, and the same goes for the family of anyone on my protected list. Parents, siblings, partners, children, and so on are all off-limits in the same way as the person that I name unless otherwise specified. This includes adopted, half, and step relations. Do you have any amendments?”

“No, I do not. I agree to the terms.” All for One flashed green, indicating that Pact was working as intended on him. Izuku had worried that he might try to shield himself from it, so he was glad that All for One agreed to the terms first. 

“Then I agree to the terms as well.” They both glowed green, and as the pact cemented itself between them, it also caused the rest of the League to glow a fainter green for a few moments in confirmation.

“What… in the world just happened?” Shigaraki asked, eyes wide as he looked between Izuku and All for One.

“A mutually beneficial arrangement. Business deals are all about give and take, Tomura. Izuku knew just how much it would benefit us to have One for All on our side, so he pushed on things that he knew I was willing to compromise with while acknowledging that there were things I wouldn’t budge on,” All for One answered. 

Mr. Compress asked, “And what is One for All? I’m guessing that it’s quite a unique quirk given that he was born quirkless, and the similarity to your name cannot be a coincidence.“

“That is a story for another time. It takes far too long to tell.”

Despite All for One’s dismissal, the vestiges of Shimura and All Might joined Yoichi as he said, “We can give a shortened version.”

The entire League recognized All Might for who he was, tensing as they stared at the bright yellow swell of energy that he was made up of. All for One was the only one with no reaction, though Izuku suspected that he was just showing restraint. “One for All is a quirk passed down willingly from user to user, and I chose young Midoriya as my successor. I wanted to give him a chance to live his dreams, but I was a fool to think that he couldn’t have been a hero without One for All. His drive is unmatched, as is his desire to help people. In this form, I can see the world through his eyes, quite literally. His every thought and memory… even the vestiges that have not introduced themselves to him yet can see them. Seeing the corruption of power that I allowed to occur under my nose… I still loathe you, All for One, but I care for his wellbeing more. My physical form is another story, though. I have no control over what he does. I am just an imprint of his personality and memories passed forward, forever changed by being put into another’s shoes. It has been… humbling.”

Vestige All Might was still struggling with the things he had said and done, realizing how ignorant and unintentionally cruel they were when he saw it from Izuku’s perspective. It took some time for them to mend bridges with each other in this way, and Izuku could only do so by divorcing the concept of physical All Might and vestige All Might completely. As far as he was concerned, they were two separate people.

Shimura was oddly quiet as she stared at Shigaraki, looking heartbroken for reasons that Izuku wasn’t sure of. She averted her eyes and nodded, simply standing by Izuku’s side.

All for One pointedly cleared his throat. The sound was terrifyingly mangled by his mask, but it definitely caught everyone’s attention. “Let us continue, then. Who is the first person that you want on that protection list?”

“Ochako Uraraka. She’s one of my best friends, and as Shigaraki already knows, she’s on my side before anyone else’s.”

“Very well. What quirk would you like next?”

“If I may?” Shimura interrupted. “I would recommend a regeneration quirk. You’ve been severely injured at UA twice now, through no fault of your own. They cannot be trusted with your health.”

All for One hummed at that, looking to Izuku who simply nodded. “That would be difficult to hide or explain, you realize?”

“I have a plan for that. Can you do me a favor and just say the words ‘I wanted to turn you into a nomu’?”

All for One barked a laugh, realizing where Izuku was going with this. “I wanted to turn you into a nomu.”

“Thank you. Now I can just…” Izuku forced tears to well up in his eyes, voice shaking pitifully as he looked at the League and wailed, “H-he said that he wanted to turn me into a nomu!” 

Izuku wiped the tears out of his eyes and straightened up with a smirk, turning back to All for One. “Now I can say that to the lie-detecting detective and it won’t be a lie. If I cry a lot and refuse to talk beyond that point, then they’ll just think it’s a trauma response and leave it alone.”

“Damn,” Dabi whistled. “I’m impressed.”

“Then I see no problem with giving you a copy of Super Regeneration. It quickly heals any fresh injuries and even lost limbs can be regained with it. However, it cannot heal past injuries or injuries that are cauterized or already healing in any way. It’s also a transformation type that requires activation to be effective.”

Izuku hated himself just a little bit for hanging off of All for One’s words, but his eagerness to discuss quirks would at least serve as a good shield for any nefarious intentions. He gave All for One his hand again, trembling at the raw energy that came with Super Regeneration joining the rest of his quirks in One for All’s core.

“Who is the second person you want on the list?”

“Shouto Todoroki. He’s also one of my best friends, was the one to suggest we join up with the League, and would definitely want me to tell you that Endeavor is not protected under his place on this list. We would both quite like to see the bastard dead.”

Dabi choked on air, wheezing as someone with a lizard mutation quirk patted his back. Izuku made note of that odd reaction before turning back to All for One --who nodded his agreement-- deciding that it would be easier to just leave his hand where it was.

“Do you have some sort of energy-absorbing quirk? It would be useful for One for All’s cover, and I can think of plenty of ways to combine that with what I already have.”

All for One hummed as he said, “I do have Leech, which I never use, but I’m not so sure you’d like that one. It lets the user absorb all of the energy from any living thing with a touch. Not the sort of thing you use unless you want someone dead.”

“It’s not constantly activated, is it?”

“No, you have to activate it.”

“Then I’ll take it.”

Izuku could always use it on plants if he desperately needed the energy for something, and there were kind ways to use that quirk too. An instant, painless death for someone suffering from a terminal illness --who just wanted to rest and asked him to do it, of course-- was the first thing that came to mind.

All for One seemed pleasantly surprised by that and gave Izuku the quirk with no further discussion. “Hitoshi Shinsou is the third person on the list. Sadly, I know that he’ll never be a villain --he’s fought against the stigma that his quirk automatically makes him one his entire life-- but I still care about him. Besides, he’s planning on going underground anyway.” There was also the fact that, while he trusted Shinsou with Brainwashing, he didn’t want All for One to ever get the chance to take it.

His father seemed to understand his line of thinking. “Well played. What’s your next quirk?”

“Do you have some sort of shielding quirk? Preferably one that lets me shield others too.”

“Ever the hero, aren’t you?” All for One said with a sigh, shaking his head. “I do. It’s called Safeguard, and it creates miniature force fields that cover the user in an energy-based barrier that hugs their form and moves with them. It can be used on others if you touch them first.”

“Ooh, that pairs well with Leech and what people think One for All is too. I definitely want that.” Izuku paused for a moment, debating the risks before saying, “And does it really matter that my motivation is helping people? The fact that I need to tear down our current society to do so means that they’ll call me a villain anyway.”

A hum was Izuku’s only answer, but since he got Safeguard immediately afterward, he assumed that All for One didn’t mind it that much. “The next person on the list is Tooru Hagakure. She’s one of the people that was gonna be on our hero team and shares a lot of the same views, so she may wind up joining us. I’ll broach that subject carefully.”

“Your fifth quirk?”

“It’s going to sound basic, but I want some kind of strength enhancer. I can only manage 25% of One for All right now, and having a quirk that’ll reinforce me a bit more and also add more force behind the blows I can make would be useful.”

“Strength enhancers happen to be a favorite of mine. I’ve got several, so I can give you one that should help with that issue.”

Izuku instinctively flexed his new quirk with a grin. He was excited to figure out how much more he could up his limits with it, but he needed to focus on going through the rest of his list for now. “The fifth person I want to protect is Fumikage Tokoyami. He’s also part of what would’ve been a hero group, and I think that he’ll probably be willing to join us in time. Dark Shadow is a sentient quirk, and you know how those are treated.”

Several members of the League grimaced at that, and while Izuku expected it, it still hurt to see how many of them had personal experience with that kind of discrimination.

“Sixth quirk?” All for One prompted, being surprisingly patient about this.

‘Then again, he knows that he won’t have to worry about any One for All user after All Might, and I know that half the reason I was brought here was to be bait. He’s bound to be in a good mood.’ 

Izuku hummed before asking, “Do you have any telepathy quirks? Silent communication seems useful.”

“I’m assuming that you want one that goes two ways?” Izuku nodded. “I do have one that I’m willing to part with. I call it Telepathic Connection. You’d be able to establish a telepathic link through touch that lasts for an hour. Since it’s two-way communication, you’ll only be able to have one active connection at a time, but you can switch between anyone that you’ve touched within that hour timeframe.”

It sounded very particular, but that was nothing unusual for mental quirks. ‘There are definitely ways to use that, and it still serves its purpose of being able to talk without talking. Unless there are any mind-reading quirks around --something rare even among mental quirks-- we’d be safe no matter who else was around.’

“I’ll take it.” Izuku was briefly surprised by how similar Telepathic Connection felt to Danger Sense, but he was thankful that he’d be able to pick it up fairly quickly. “The sixth person on my list is Momo Yaoyorozu. I do believe that, under the right circumstances, she might join me, but for her sake, I hope that it never comes to that.” 

All Might’s vestige smiled at him, gently ruffling Izuku’s hair before he silently faded away. He struggled the most with manifesting outside of Izuku --probably because he was still alive-- and since things were going smoothly, it was for the best that he conserved his energy. Shimura took one last look at Shigaraki before fading away as well.

“Let’s move on to the seventh quirk. Didn’t you want to…?”

“Oh, right!” Izuku exclaimed. “I know that it’s a bit of a longshot, but healing quirks are rare and you seem like the type of person to have them for the sake of having them.”

“I do have healing quirks, yes. One of them is a bit too self-sacrificial for my tastes, but it would suit you. It pairs well with some of your other quirks too.”

Izuku felt a rush of tingly lightness that brought a smile to his face. ‘Oh. Oh, I like that one. It’s so weird that they feel different.’

“It’s called Healing Transfer. You’ll be able to use your own energy to heal most injuries, though you can’t fix what isn’t there. An ally of mine tried to use it to heal me, but the energy drain was too severe and what was left of my face wasn’t salvageable. Combined with Leech, the energy drain shouldn’t be an issue, and since you have Super Regeneration, the fact that you can’t use it on yourself doesn’t matter.”

‘Oh, that’s perfect! I’ll have to go kill a few trees or something, but if I can at least try to help Iida’s brother… Nerve damage doesn’t seem like something that would be out of my limitations here. If nothing else, I might be able to things a little less painful for him.’

“Tenya Iida is my seventh protected person. He cares too much about his family’s legacy to ever become a villain, but he’s also the earnest and straightforward type that I can’t help being fond of. He’ll be one of the good ones.”

Honestly, Izuku hadn’t expected to get this many quirks. It wasn’t difficult for him to think of people he wanted to protect --if anything, he was getting nervous about running out of slots-- but the sheer volume of quirks that All for One had in his possession was difficult to choose from, especially when Izuku didn’t have any sort of list. ‘I doubt that I could come up with anything that he doesn’t have, but there are probably a few he wouldn’t part with. Hm… Actually, I do have an idea.’

“Do you have a telekinesis quirk?” Maybe he was rubbing the salt in the wound a bit here --it would hurt knowing that he did and that he just chose not to give it to Izuku-- but Izuku had also grown up wistfully wishing that he could pull things toward him like his Mom. He would love to be able to do that if he could.

“... I do. It’s just called Telekinesis, and it’ll allow you to levitate any object or person that you touch as long as you’re capable of lifting them normally. You can freely control things once you’ve levitated them. The weight limit is also only for individual objects, not a collective weight. If there’s a limit in that regard, then I haven’t found it.”

Izuku silently took the quirk before saying, “Hm… I would say Neito Monoma, but you’re not tricking me into wasting one of my slots. We can talk about the fact that I have a half-brother later.”

“Ooh, drama!” Himiko cried out, though a flare of murderous intent from All for One made her go quiet very quickly.

Izuku swiftly moved on. “I’m choosing Tsuyu Asui next. I don’t envision her ever becoming a villain --not when she has two younger siblings to look out for-- but I wouldn’t be surprised if she was sympathetic. I know that her family struggles a lot because of how prominent mutation quirks are treated.”

“Very well then. You get two more quirks and two more people. Choose carefully.”

“Something that makes me more durable against physical blows,” Izuku answered instantly. He would do anything that he could to mitigate the threat that All Might posed to him, and a quirk like that would be useful for all sorts of things.

“Shock Absorption fits that description. It’s a mutation quirk that drastically reduces the impact of physical blows. It doesn’t negate them entirely, but you won’t have to worry about turning it off or on either. It’s a quirk that I commonly give to nomu.”

Receiving a mutation quirk hurt a hell of a lot more. Izuku knew that it was because his entire body had to change to accommodate the quirk, but the benefits outweighed the drawbacks. ‘I’ll never have to worry about being caught off guard with this. It only hurt so badly because of the type of quirk it is, right? I’m not approaching some sort of previously unknown limit?’

Yoichi was quick to reassure him. “You’re safe. I would warn you if it became an issue, but as far as I’m aware, you have no limit to the number of quirks you can hold at once. That appears to be a family trait. One for All can probably hold the quirks of past users because it started with me and All for One, though I doubt another user would be able to wield them like you can. Four died at forty from the strain of One for All alone, and the quirk was easier to manage that long ago. Another user would likely die of old age by the time they were thirty.”

“One for All may well be the perfect example of quirk singularity theory,” All for One said with a hum. “It will be fascinating to see how that continues. Though, do try to keep your conversations verbal for us.”

Izuku flushed before frantically saying, “Oh, I’m sorry! I’m so used to just thinking something and them responding that I--”

“You’re fine, son. Who is your ninth person? I will need time to plan for luring the heroes out here, so we need to speed this along.”

“Mei Hatsume! She’s a support student that’s a bit chaotic and morally gray, so I’m pretty sure that she wouldn’t care who she was inventing for as long as she got to keep inventing.” Her level of skill and tenacity was something to be admired --Izuku had never seen a first-year support student invent so much before the Sports Festival-- and Izuku didn’t doubt that plenty of people in the underworld would want to get their hands on her. ‘It’s better to preemptively prevent as much of that as I can. It’s expected for me to viciously protect anyone on this list anyway.’

“Very well. Might I suggest your final quirk?” Izuku nodded, tilting his head curiously. “I’ve given this quirk to another one of my allies as well, though he is not currently involved in things. Energy Efficiency is another mutation type that allows the user’s body to conserve nutrients and water. You’d be able to function at top form with only a few hours of sleep here and there, something that will be useful for someone living a double life. You can still sleep a regular amount, of course, but you do not have to.”

Izuku accepted immediately. He had been worried about finding enough hours in the day to do everything that he needed to, and this solved that problem quite handily. Energy Efficiency burned as it settled within him, but it wasn’t anywhere near as painful as Shock Absorption had been. ‘Now I’ve gotta tell him about my last person. He’s not going to be happy about this, but it’s the best move for me to make, strategically.’

“The last person on my list is Shouta Aizawa aka Eraserhead.”

“A hero?” All for One asked with a sneer.

“You said it yourself, didn’t you? Ten people of my choosing, regardless of who they are, with All Might being the only one off the table. I’m still iffy on Aizawa-sensei as a teacher, but the fact remains that his quirk is a threat to me that I don’t want you to have. It wouldn’t be considered attacking me to steal Erasure and use it to keep me from regenerating, after all. You and I both know that you left the wording of that agreement vague on purpose.”

Eerie laughter echoed around the room, causing the other members of the League to shuffle uneasily as Izuku withdrew his hand from his father’s. “You truly are my son.”

Izuku bristled when All for One patted his head condescendingly before getting Kurogiri to warp him away, only relaxing after a few minutes of taking deep breaths. Yoichi --now visible to only him again-- hugged Izuku before fading away, telling him how proud he was of him.

Shigaraki looked like he could be knocked over with a feather. Izuku fought the urge to apologize for putting them all in such a strange position, chuckling as he looked around the room.

In the end, he settled on awkwardly asking, “So, what do you do for fun around here?”

Chapter Text

“Are you quite certain that these are necessary?” Kurogiri hesitantly clipped on a pair of quirk-canceling handcuffs, and Izuku was relieved when he felt his access to One for All disappear. ‘I would’ve been in trouble if they didn’t have access to these things.’

“I’m sure. They’ll probably ask why I didn’t break out of here myself, and I need to have a convenient excuse. None of you can hurt me anyway.” Izuku had been pushing it by crashing on a couch without wearing these last night. “Sorry that I won’t be able to warn you about when the heroes are coming. Danger Sense gets cut off by these things too.”

“That’s probably for the best,” Mr. Compress reassured him. “Some genuine surprise will make your performance more believable.”

“I still can’t believe that Sensei has kids. Why did he never tell me?” Shigaraki muttered.

Izuku gave him a sympathetic smile and said, “If it makes you feel any better, then I didn’t know I had a half-brother until I met him at UA. My father is kind of shit at communication.” He looked over at the group of villains around him and hummed. “Could I get the rest of those introductions? Code names are fine.”

Spinner, Magne, and Twice all introduced themselves without hesitation, welcoming Izuku with open arms. “Do you always have to deal with those ghosts? They’re kinda creepy. So cool!” Twice said.

“Yeah. They don’t always manifest outside of me, but they’re a part of One for All. There are eight of them in total, though I still haven’t met two of them. Three told me that Two is the most… displeased about me being the next holder, so I don’t expect to meet him any time soon. I’m not as worried about meeting Six. He’s supportive, but his quirk hasn’t had a good opportunity to manifest yet.”

When he saw the confused looks he was getting, Izuku explained, “None of the vestiges can talk to me until I can use their quirk. I think it took so long for Yoichi to manifest because I needed a better handle on One for All first.”

“That’s such an odd quirk,” Magne mumbled. “It’s good to have you, though.”

“Would Stain really want us to kill All Might? We’re supposed to be going after the corrupt heroes.”

As much as Izuku didn’t want All Might dead --he just wanted him far, far away from him-- he figured that he needed to take those rose-tinted glasses off of Spinner before Shigaraki lost it on him. He lifted his shirt up and said, “That massive scar on my left was a gift from All Might. He shoved a guardrail through my lung during my final exam.”

Spinner froze, eyes widening in horror. The knife that he was idly sharpening fell to the ground with a clang, and Shigaraki nodded before saying, “He’s just another vessel for state-sanctioned violence. All Might lulls people into a false sense of complacency and convinces them that everything is fine, turning them into mindless sheep that go along with whatever the government says. He’s got to go.”

The bar’s television flickered on again. Instead of All for One’s voice coming from it, it flipped to a news channel that was playing a press release from UA. ‘It’s a surprise to see Aizawa-sensei up there. Maybe they wanted his no-nonsense attitude to ward off some of the accusing questions, but that doesn’t seem to be going very well.’

“Saying that they’ve increased surveillance and improved on their security isn’t going to reassure anyone. They’re not helping their case here,” Dabi chuckled. “They’ve done it to themselves, really. It’s because of heroes that anything other than perfection is deemed worthless.”

“Mr. Eraserhead. You claim that it was for the student’s safety, but in the middle of it all, you urged the students themselves to fight. What were your intentions at that point?”

‘Really? I guess that explains why they were all in that clearing. I must have been in Mr. Compress’s marble when that call was made.’

“Since we had no way of grasping the full nature of the situation, I made that decision in an attempt to avoid the worst-case scenario.”

“Worst-case scenario? How else would you describe a situation where 26 were wounded and one was kidnapped?”

Izuku jolted slightly at that, and his worry must have shown on his face because Himiko said, “There weren’t any major injuries! Most of them just got caught by Mustard’s gas, though he got caught too so… They’ll be fine after resting for a couple of days.”

“At the moment, the worst case I could imagine involved the deaths of my students.”

The reporter grimaced at that, and Nezu followed Aizawa’s statement by saying, “The gas responsible for most of the harm was a villain’s quirk with a soporific effect. Kendou and Tetsutetsu’s quick thinking was responsible for minimizing the damage. The students have all received psychological evaluations, and none seem to have suffered emotional trauma.”

“Is that meant to be a silver lining?” the reporter questioned.

“We believe that the worst has been avoided as long as the students still have their futures.”

‘Their futures wouldn’t be over if they had suffered emotional trauma. Something about the way he said that bugs me. Besides, everything just happened. The attack probably hasn’t sunk in for some people yet. It’s a bit early to have an evaluation on everyone.’

“Can you say the same about Izuku Midoriya? He won your Sports Festival. He showed the entire nation that he has a hero’s passion and drive. If the villains had any sense, then they would do anything to keep that kind of hero from stepping into the limelight. Do you really think that boy still has a future? We all know the statistics. After the first 24 hours…”

Aizawa’s eyebrows twitched so violently that Izuku could see it on the screen. “Midoriya is a strong kid with a good head on his shoulders. I know that he’ll have a future after this.”

“Sounds like you want our blind faith. Putting aside Midoriya’s current status, do you have a counter-strategy?”

“We’re hardly approaching this passively,” Nezu stated. “Currently, I am personally cooperating with the police in their ongoing investigation. Make no mistake. We will retrieve the student who was stolen from us.”

“That kind of declaration… There’s no way that UA is only working with the police. They’re a hero school with a ton of alumni to call on, and Nezu isn’t the type to take a hit to UA’s reputation like this unless it was to mislead the enemy. There’s going to be a large hero presence closing in here. Soon.”

Kurogiri hummed. “Should we evacuate? If we tied you to something and led them to believe that this was a secondary hideout…”

Izuku hopped off the barstool with a nod. “Sounds like a plan! I don’t want to risk any of you getting caught.”

They strapped Izuku to a large, surprisingly comfortable chair, and after some deliberation, Kurogiri warped him to their secondary facility where nomus were created. Sitting next to bubbling vats of mindless, warped creatures was distinctly unsettling, and it was even more so when he saw that Ragdoll was out cold in the same area.

‘It makes the claim that All for One wanted to turn me into a nomu more convincing though. And it gives them an excuse to abandon the bar before it’s raided since nothing of importance is being kept there. I can suck it up.’ He tried to convince himself that any fear he felt while staring at the horrors his father was capable of would only make his act more convincing.

Suddenly, a car smashed through the roof of the building, sending chunks of rubble flying in every direction. Mt. Lady’s face peered through the hole she had created, eyes widening as she saw him. “Guys! The kid’s in here!”

Izuku strained his eyes in the dark to see Best Jeanist, Gang Orca, and Tiger enter the room, and when he saw the latter, Izuku said, “R-ragdoll is over there.” He lolled his head to the left, and Tiger ran right over to her right away.

Denim threads freed him from his restraints and picked the lock of his quirk-restraining cuffs. Izuku doubled over with pain when he felt One for All and all the quirks tied to it rush back to him at once, crying out despite his best efforts to stay quiet.

“Midoriya?”

Izuku looked up at Best Jeanist with a grimace. “Sorry… I’ll be alright.”

“Ragdoll! Come on, talk to me!”

Gang Orca joined a frantic Tiger, checking for a pulse as he said, “Your teammate seems to be breathing, at least. That’s a relief.”

“But look at her! She’s… What did they do to you, Ragdoll?”

“Sorry, Tiger, but I’ve had my eye on her quirk for quite a while. It was too good to pass up.” 

Izuku tensed at the sound of his father’s voice, looking at the four heroes here as he said, “You need to run.”

“Stop! Don’t take another step,” Gang Orca ordered, shielding Izuku and Ragdoll alongside Best Jeanist. “Is he with the League?”

Tiger narrowed his eyes as he said, “We need to get a light in here.”

‘They have no idea what they’re up against. The fact that his existence was hushed up means that--’

“You should have listened to that boy.” All for One stepped out of the shadows, and what happened next was over in an instant. The factory and its surroundings were completely demolished by a blast of pressure, and Izuku rushed after everyone as Shock Absorption kept him from being flung away.

“Tomura has only just learned how to think for himself and carve his own path forward. So, if possible, I’d like to prevent anyone from interfering with that.” All for One’s mask tilted with his head as he chuckled and said, “Well, shall we begin?”

A second blast rocked the earth, gouging into the area and completely leveling buildings while cutting others in half. Izuku grimaced as he watched the heroes that had come for him go flying. Mt. Lady, Gang Orca, Tiger, and Ragdoll were all caught by Best Jeanist’s threads before they were flung into the rubble, but Best Jeanist wound up hitting the ground hard and taking the brunt of the damage because of his efforts.

All for One slowly clapped his hands as he mockingly said, “That’s the number four hero for you. I was planning on blasting all of them straight to hell, but you grabbed them by their clothes and threw them aside in the nick of time! Such quick decision-making, such technique, such incredible reflexes!”

Best Jeanist slowly pushed himself up with the denim threads on the back of his costume, and Izuku watched in horror as Best Jeanist was pushed back down by an invisible force that splattered blood all around him. 

“Your strength is the product of endless training and a wealth of experience, but I have no need for it. Because your quirk… is not one that would suit Tomura.”

‘What? What does that mean? Is All for One a transferable quirk like One for All? Does he intend to give it to Shigaraki?’

Black, tar-like sludge started popping up all over the leveled area, and Izuku paled as he watched all the nomu that had been secured previously get dropped around Best Jeanist. ‘He’s going to kill him. Best Jeanist will be able to down some of them, but as injured as he is right now…’ 

One for All rushed through his veins as he leapt forward, Fa Jin pushing him even faster as he laid red, glowing hands on two of the nomu. They slumped over instantly as a rush of energy filled him, and he danced around, touching as many of them as he could. 

“Kid… go!”

“I won’t leave you!” he snarled, downing the last four nomu in quick succession. Izuku rushed over to Best Jeanist’s side. The red glow surrounding his hands shifted to green, and he gently pressed his hands against the wound that his father gave the hero, urging the surplus of energy to go to Best Jeanist instead.

“What… are you doing?”

“Helping,” Izuku reassured him, relieved to see the gaping, bleeding wound slowly closing up.

All for One tsked before turning to face the sky. “I don’t have time for you two. He’s finally here.”

All Might jumped into the scene, swinging two fists at All for One that the villain simply caught in his grasp. ‘They’re going to level this whole area. I need to get Best Jeanist and the others out of here!’ He desperately wished that he could make Healing Transfer work faster, but for now, Izuku just focused on stabilizing Best Jeanist so that he could move him.

“You’re gonna give it all back, All for One!”

“Are you here to kill me again, All Might?”

The ground cracked beneath them as All Might kept trying to overpower All for One, and Izuku almost sobbed with relief when he felt Healing Transfer’s power wane as he healed the last of Best Jeanist’s internal damage. 

“What took you so long?” All for One mocked, and the area around them exploded with rubble.

Safeguard flared to life as he shielded himself and Best Jeanist in a golden glow. “Can you move?! We need to get out of here!” Izuku could lift Best Jeanist with Telekinesis if he needed to --Blackwhip would be dangerous with how many emotions were flying right now-- but he wouldn’t have a solid grip on him if he did that. Another shockwave could send Best Jeanist right into the rubble and kill him if Izuku wasn’t careful.

“I can,” Best Jeanist said with a nod, staggering to his feet as the two of them tried to get out of the area.

“I will not make the same mistake that I did five years ago, All for One! Midoriya is coming home! And this time, I’m smashing you straight into a prison cell!”

“Sounds like there’s a lot on your to-do list. You and me both.”

Danger Sense blared, and Izuku barely tackled Best Jeanist out of the way before a massive swell of energy tore through all the buildings that were in front of them. The line of destruction went on farther than Izuku could see. 

“That’s Air Cannon plus Springlike Limbs, kinetically boosted by four and strength enhanced by two. It’s a fun little combination, but I want to add in a few more power-up-type quirks.”

Best Jeanist snagged the other downed heroes with his quirk as the two of them rushed out of the area, bringing them to the nearest paramedics. Izuku was going to offer to heal them himself, but their injuries were minor enough not to cause worry. ‘Besides, I’m only not going to be in trouble for illegal quirk usage because I still technically had Aizawa-sensei’s permission to use mine. I shouldn’t push my luck now.’

Izuku sat down heavily on the sidewalk, counting his breaths in an attempt to calm his racing heart.

“I hope you’re aware that we will have to discuss what you did back there.”

He looked up at Best Jeanist and nodded, releasing a shaky sigh as his eyes flicked back to the screen.

“That being said, thank you. We could not have vacated the area so quickly without your assistance. I’m not sure I would have survived that fight either.”

“Remember that when we have to explain that I killed all of those nomu,” Izuku muttered, holding his head in his hands. He knew that they were living tortured existences and that it was kinder to let them rest, but he could still feel what was left of their energy coursing through his veins. ‘Killing things… should not make me feel this good. I’m going to have to be very careful about how I use Leech.’

“... I will. I need to go help with the evacuation. You stay here.”

Izuku wasn’t going to argue with that. Helicopters flew overhead as the press went straight for Kamino Ward, and before long the plaza television flickered to life with the coverage. Watching All Might and All for One fight was like seeing a hurricane and an earthquake hit the same area at once, destroying everything left in their wake. It was horrifying, and Izuku could tell that All Might was nearing his limit.

“We’re here at this nightmarish scene! Half of Kamino Ward was destroyed in the blink of an eye! All Might is currently exchanging blows with the purported villain behind all of this destruction. It’s hard to believe that a single villain could go toe-to-toe with the Symbol of Peace himself…”

All Might shielded a civilian from a massive blow, and when the dust cleared, his small form was exposed for all the world to see. He was beaten and bloody, obviously struggling to stand.

‘Please, All Might. You have to be the one to put him away. Defeating All for One through subtler means may take years that we don’t have. I want to change the world, not destroy it. You have to win!’

Watching other heroes rush in and evacuate the nearby civilians was a relief. It meant that All Might could go all out with the last of his strength, throwing everything into a punch that cratered the earth beneath All for One’s crumpled form.

All for One didn’t stand back up. All Might raised his fist in victory. The rest of the heroes and the press rushed to the scene now that the fight was over, and the police loaded All for One up into an iron maiden as they prepared the unconscious villain for transport.

All Might looked directly at the camera, pointing to it as he said, “Now it’s your turn!”

To everyone else, it sounded like a promise that the Symbol of Peace hadn’t been broken, but Izuku knew better. ‘The embers of One for All… they’ve completely died. All Might’s time as a hero is over.’

The two greatest threats to Izuku’s dreams had dealt with each other in the end. He clenched his fists with determination.

‘This is the beginning of a new era. I swear to make it a better one.’

-

“Sorry to make you wait so long, Midoriya.”

“It’s only been a few hours. Considering everything that happened… Is All Might going to be okay?”

Tsukauchi smiled at him and nodded. “He will be. Let’s get through these questions so that you can go home. I'm sure your mother wants to see you as soon as she can.”

“Okay,” he mumbled, fidgeting with the edge of his shirt to soothe his nerves. ‘I’ve got this. I just have to be careful about how I word things.’

“Let’s start with last night. You and Kouta were grabbed by Mr. Compress, right? What happened leading up to that?”

“Yeah, we were. Muscular wanted to kill Kouta, so I was fighting to prevent that. I knocked Muscular out as soon as I could. Mr. Compress showed up as soon as the fight was over, and then he compressed us both into marbles.”

“That matches up with what Kouta told us. What happened when you got back to the League of Villain’s base?”

“All for One showed up.”

Tsukauchi paused, ink bleeding onto the paper from where his pen pressed against it. “What did he do?”

Izuku turned on the waterworks, voice wobbling as he said, “He said that he wanted to turn me into a nomu.” Tsukauchi shook with horror, eyes widening as he dropped his pen. It almost made Izuku feel bad for making sure that statement would register as true. “He kept giving me quirk after quirk… All for One realized that One for All merged with the quirks he gave me, keeping him from taking them back. He stopped at ten.”

“I’m so glad that you’re alright,” Tsukauchi choked out, sounding seconds away from crying. Guilt squirmed in Izuku’s chest, but he kept a tight lid on it. “No one is going to fault you for the nomu, but would you mind explaining what you did to them?”

“All for One explained the quirks as he gave them to me. The one I used on the nomu is called Leech, and it lets me absorb energy from living things with a touch if I choose to. I was surprised by just how quickly they… I’m going to have to stick to plants if I use that one.”

“Best Jeanist told us that you healed him. Did that also come from…?”

Izuku nodded. “Healing Transfer lets me use my own energy to heal others. Best Jeanist looked bad, and the nomu meant that I had a lot of energy stored away. I knew that I could help so I just… I couldn’t leave him there.”

Tsukauchi chuckled as he shook his head, saying, “You’re going to be an amazing hero, kid. Just be careful not to stretch the limits of legal quirk usage next time, okay? You’re lucky that the nomu aren’t regarded as living anymore.”

“... Can I go home? I want to talk to my mom.”

“Yeah, kid. Let’s get you home.”

-

Izuku passed out almost as soon as he returned to their apartment, but his mother had been so relieved to see him alive and well that she didn’t mind that, tucking him into bed with a wobbly smile. When he woke up, he decided that it was time they had a long-overdue discussion.

‘Mom is safe now. The League can’t hurt her, All for One is in jail, and All Might doesn’t even have the remnants of One for All left in him. One for All is my quirk, and I’m not going to keep hiding it from her.’

He sleepily rubbed at his eyes as he left his room, smiling when he heard the sizzling of eggs on the pan. “I’m pretty sure it was my turn this morning.”

Inko turned to face Izuku, pointing her spatula at him playfully as she said, “Hush you! You just got home, so sit down and let me take care of it.”

Izuku held his hands up in surrender, giggling as he took a seat. His mother’s laughter was watery as she sniffled, but her smile seemed more genuine now. When Inko joined him at the table, she collected herself, looked Izuku over, and asked, “Are you sure that you’re alright? The police wouldn’t tell me what happened.”

‘Yeah, I bet not. I’d be surprised if Tsukauchi told them anything. It probably wasn’t even put in the system.’ He nodded. “I’m fine, Mom! But… I do want to talk to you about something if that’s okay.”

“Of course! What is it?”

“It’s about my quirk. And All Might. And Dad.” Inko straightened up at Izuku’s tone, giving him her full attention. “Accumulator is a cover story. I also didn’t suddenly manifest a quirk out of nowhere. My quirk is called One for All, and All Might was the one to give it to me.”

“Give it to you? I’ve never heard of a quirk that works like that.”

“It’s probably because of how One for All started, but I’ll get to that in a minute. I’m sorry for not telling you sooner, Mom. All Might really wanted me to keep it quiet, but that’s not an excuse, especially since I don’t trust his judgment on a good day.”

“You don’t have to apologize, Izuku. I wish that I had known sooner, but the number one hero was telling you not to talk about something. That’s a lot of pressure to put on someone. I’d tear into him for it, but you don’t want him to know that I know about this, do you?”

Izuku shook his head. “I really don’t. Anyway, I don’t know if he’s announced it yet, but All Might won’t be able to fight again. The embers of One for All that were left in him have died out. It’s well and truly my quirk now, and for all that he wants me to be the next Symbol of Peace…”

“You never wanted to be that kind of hero,” Inko said with a rueful smile. “You know that you don’t have to do what he tells you, right? Don’t be anyone but yourself.”

“I know, Mom. That’s actually where Dad gets pulled into the story.” Izuku sighed before saying, “Though I didn’t know it when I got One for All, this quirk comes with a storied past. It was passed down from person to person, all with the hopes of taking down one person: All for One. They’re not going to release his name to the public, but that was the villain that All Might fought yesterday. All for One has the power to take and give quirks, and he was the one who created One for All over 100  years ago. He… he also once used the name Hisashi.”

Inko’s chopsticks fell to the table as she jolted with shock. “What? I… I knew that he was a villain, I’ll admit, but I had no idea that…”

“I know. It’s okay, Mom. He’s bound to be in Tartarus now, so it doesn’t really matter, right?” he chuckled. “But before the heroes came… we made a deal. He gave me ten quirks and let me protect ten people in addition to their families in exchange for ending the cycle with me. All for One cannot attack me or any future One for All users, and we will not be able to attack him either. I made sure that you, Neito, and his mom got protected by that too, of course, but please understand that you can’t tell anyone about this. If they found out that I have an alliance with the League of Villains, that I plan on working with them to create change…”

“You’d be crucified,” she whispered. His mother looked up to him with determination lining her features as she said, “Thank you for trusting me, Izuku. I won’t tell them a word. If this is the best way you can think of to help people, then I’ll put my trust in you too. I’ll be careful if that detective you mentioned comes around, and I suppose that I should hide the family photos, huh? Those home visits are tomorrow, and All Might would probably recognize Hisashi… I better warn Hinagi too. I don’t want her or Neito to get dragged into this mess.”

Izuku sniffled as tears welled up in his eyes, relieved by her unconditional support. “I trust you, but would you mind if we used Pact to protect both of us? It’s a verbal contract quirk that Dad gave me.”

Inko agreed to that immediately, and Izuku let the grateful tears fall when a brief, green glow settled over them both after they hashed out the terms. “You’re the best mom in the world. You know that, right?”

She smiled at him as she said, “I guess that makes sense. I do have the best son in the world, after all.”

Izuku’s sobs could probably be heard by all of their neighbors, but he didn’t care one bit about that. He had never felt so at peace as he did in that moment, wrapped up in his mother’s arms and safe from the dangers of the outside world, even if only for a moment.

When All Might texted him that evening, asking him to meet up at Takoba, Izuku ignored it. Neito and Ms. Monoma had come over for dinner, and he wasn’t going to let anything get between him and his family.

-

There was a knock at the door. Izuku and Inko went to open it together, welcoming All Might into their house. ‘I expected him to be the one who visited, but Mom definitely isn’t going to be happy about it. At least he’s in his true form now. He’s a lot less scary this way.’

“Would you like some tea?” his mother asked, and the frostiness in her tone had Izuku’s hair standing on end.

All Might, oblivious as ever, nodded and said, “If you don’t mind.”

Izuku barely refrained from laughing when he saw that his mother was using a senna blend for All Might. ‘Talk about a tea that says fuck you. We only ever drink that stuff when we’re sick.’

Inko sat the tea down in front of All Might before joining them at the table, sitting right next to Izuku. All Might took a sip of the tea, looking up at his mother and saying, “Thank you. This is delicious.”

“It’s my pleasure,” Inko said with a satisfied grin. 

‘Of course it was. That natural laxative is going to kick his ass this evening.’ Izuku would like to say that he was surprised by his mother doing this, but he would be lying if he did.

All Might cleared his throat. “You received the letter about UA’s new dormitory system, yes?”

“We did.”

“... Have you come to a decision?”

Izuku and Inko glanced at each other before nodding. “I’ll allow it,” his mother said. “But UA is on very thin ice. If anything like this happens again, then he will be transferring schools.” 

They had both come to that agreement last night. His mother was relieved that his new quirks would protect him, but she also refused to let UA hurt him again like they had during the finals. The dorms were also inconvenient for Izuku, preventing him from contacting the League. ‘I probably would’ve transferred outright if it wasn’t for everyone else. It’ll be easier for Ochako, Shouto, and I to keep working together in the same school, and I still think I’ll be able to sway a few people.’

“I understand,” All Might said, bowing his head. “The heroes of UA all know that things have to change. We will do everything in our power to make those changes, to ensure the safety of our students. Thank you for allowing me to devote myself to mentoring Izuku. He will make a wonderful hero. Our society needs another symbol, and I believe that Izuku could fill that role. I wish to help him become the next Symbol of Peace.”

“I’m allowing no such thing.” All Might startled at the steel in his mother’s voice. “Izuku will become a wonderful hero, but he will become his own kind of hero. I will not let you pressure him into taking up your mantle because he admires you. You have already hurt my son. I will not stand by and watch you crush his spirit the same way that you did his lung,” she hissed. 

“I…” All Might gulped, nodding when he saw that Izuku wasn’t about to help him here. “Of course.”

Inko turned to Izuku with a tearful smile, saying, “Promise me that you’ll be careful at UA, okay? I look forward to seeing what you can do.”

“I will be,” he promised. “I hope that I can make you proud.”

“You already have, Izuku. You already have.”

Izuku’s halcyon days were over. Uneasiness had taken hold of the nation, and it would only take a few targeted strikes to turn that uneasiness into chaos.

‘How did that quote go again? I think it was “Chaos often breeds life, when order breeds habit.” The people of Japan haven’t been living for a long time now.  It’s about time that someone changed that.’

Chapter Text

It wouldn’t be long before it was time for Izuku to move into the dorms. He had less to pack than he would have before, having sold all of his All Might merch when he noticed that their values were rocketing up. ‘I guess it makes sense. There won’t be any more All Might merchandise deals, and he had a huge impact on the way our society is now. A bunch of people are scrambling to get a piece of that history and hold onto it. I just… I don’t want to keep any of it. I see no need to. It’ll help us pay for the things we need for the dorm too.’

His room had already been tamer --looking more like a boy’s room and less like a shrine to All Might-- ever since the mall shopping trip, but it was liberating to get rid of the boxes of merch that he’d shoved into the forgotten corner of his closet. 

“They’ll be coming by to pick these up later, right?”

“Yeah,” Izuku answered with a nod. “They don’t want students to have to carry everything on their own, and though they didn’t say anything about it, I know that they’ll be doing a security check on everything too. It’ll all be there by the time we move in.”

“Is there anything you need me to hide for you?”

“Nope, I’m good! Thank you, Mom.”

A few days went by, and as Izuku rode the train to UA, he was kicking himself for not getting some form of communication to any members of the League. ‘It’s too late for that now. I’ll just have to hope we run into each other again soon.’ 

Izuku wasn’t the last student to arrive at their dorms, but it was a close call. Once Tooru joined them, Aizawa looked out over the class, saying, “Now then, Class 1-A… I’m glad to see you all here.”

“I didn’t think everyone would get permission to move in,” Sero muttered.

Tooru sighed. “It was an uphill battle for me.

“That makes sense,” Jirou chuckled nervously.

Ojiro looked at them both, tilting his head as he said, “Yeah, I bet you two did have the hardest time. My mom would’ve been freaked out if I got hospitalized by that gas…”

“We’re glad to see you here, Aizawa-sensei,” Tsuyu said earnestly. “I was sad because I thought you might not be back after that press conference.”

“I’m surprised too. But, well, a lot has happened.”

Izuku carefully studied Aizawa’s expression, seeing some trepidation there. ‘If I had to guess, then they only didn’t punish him for the sake of keeping stability. That doesn’t mean that they won’t use it against him in the future, though.’

“Anyway, I’m gonna give you all a quick overview of the dorms. But before we do that... “ Aizawa sighed. “The training camp was meant to help you earn your provisional licenses. That’s still our goal. We’ll have to train even harder to make up for lost time.”

‘It’s odd that they’re so insistent on first-years getting provisional licenses, but I’m not going to question it. Having one will give me a lot more wiggle room.’

“Come on then, follow me.”

Everyone shuffled inside after Aizawa, and Izuku’s eyes widened as he took in how much space there was. ‘I knew that it was big from the outside, but this is something else.’

“There’s one class in each building. Girls are on the right and boys are on the left. The first floor is a common area. Your dining hall, baths, and laundry rooms are all down here.”

‘It’s nice that we’ll be able to hang out like this. I’m glad that I’ll still get the chance to cook too. The bath thing though…’

“Did I hear that right? The bath and laundry rooms are in the common area? My dream come true?”

Izuku snarled at Mineta’s words, and tendrils of Blackwhip snaked out of him to loom over his classmate. Aizawa’s voice cut him off. “They’re split up by gender and require scanning your ID to access them. That’s quite enough out of you, Mineta. Don’t make me use my quirk on you, Midoriya.”

He grumbled before turning Blackwhip off, but the thankful looks he got from his female classmates meant more to him than Aizawa scolding him did. ‘They shouldn’t have to feel unsafe where they live. Why is Mineta still here?’

“The rooms start on the second floor. Four boys’ rooms and four girls’ rooms on each floor with five floors in total.” They all followed Aizawa up to the second floor, gaping when he led them into one of the empty rooms. “There’s one student per room. You all get air conditioners, toilets, refrigerators, and closets. Enjoy these luxuries.”

Looking further into the room revealed that they had verandas as well, and the walk-in closets were so large that they could easily sleep in them. ‘I don’t want to say that this is nicer than our apartment, but honestly…’ He could tell that UA hadn’t spared any expense here.

Aizawa handed out a piece of paper with their dorm arrangements on it, and as much as it sucked to have Mineta as a neighbor, Izuku was glad that he’d be able to keep an eye on him and that none of their female classmates were living on this floor. ‘I haven’t really got to talk to Aoyama much. This could be a good opportunity to do that. It’s nice to be on the same floor as Fumikage too!’

“The luggage you sent over earlier should already be in your rooms. Today was set aside for you all to get settled in, so we’ll talk about what comes next tomorrow. You’re all dismissed!”

“Yes, Aizawa-sensei!”

Izuku diligently worked to unpack his mountain of boxes. There was a consistent color scheme of dark greens, black, and a few pops of bright red when it came to his belongings, and Izuku smiled as he straightened out his red comforter and laid a stuffed, lop-eared rabbit down on it.

Neito had given Izuku that plush for his birthday, saying that he thought of Izuku’s costume when he saw it and had to get it for him. Izuku unironically loved the soft toy, and while half of that was because of who it came from, he did just think that it was cute too.

After his bed was made, Izuku started building the furniture that he’d brought along with him. Between Float and Telekinesis, setting up a pair of bookshelves --one for his hero figures and family photos and one for his notebooks and favorite books-- took almost no time. He happily filled both bookshelves, grinning as he unpacked the family photos that they’d taken over the summer. Izuku and Neito always stood in the center of those pictures, wide grins on their faces as their mothers stood on either side of them. Those photographs got to sit on the middle shelf --with the exception of his favorite that was put on his desk-- and they were flanked by a few Hawks figures that Izuku treasured above any of his other hero merchandise. The other shelves held figures of Best Jeanist, Kamui Woods, Ryukyu, Gang Orca, Fat Gum, and a single set with each member of the Wild, Wild Pussycats, though Izuku had mixed feelings about those four now. 

It didn’t take him much longer to unpack the rest of his boxes. Clothes were put away, a rug was spread out, curtains were set up, paintings of forests and nature were hung up, weights were tucked away in a corner that he wouldn’t kick them in, and his desk was set up with all of his textbooks, a fresh notebook, and pencils within easy reach. He laid in his room and caught his breath for a few moments, startling when he looked outside and saw how dark it had gotten.

‘I guess I better go downstairs and check on the others, huh?’

Several of his classmates were lounging around on the couch, though Izuku noticed that none of the girls were there right now. He sat down next to Fumikage with a nod and a grin, and when Kaminari walked into the room after him, sitting down on the arm of the couch, he said, “I know that it wasn’t anything good that led us to this point, but I’m still really excited about us all living together!”

“Yeah, it’s gonna be fun!” Izuku cheered. For all that he was irritated that his movements would be limited here, he was also grateful for the dorms. Shouto wouldn’t have to worry about Endeavor now that he didn’t have to see him, and Ochako would always be able to eat, even when money was running low and she couldn’t bring herself to rely on Izuku and his mother.

“Communal living is yet another way to train our sense of law and order!”

“Don’t hurt yourself there, Iida,” Sero chuckled.

“Are you boys all finished decorating?” Ashido called out, and Izuku watched all the other girls walk into the room behind her.

Kaminari waved and said, “Yeah, we’re just relaxing now!”

“That’s great! We were talking, and we had an idea. We should all have a look at each other’s rooms!”

A few of the guys looked a bit uneasy, but in the end, they all agreed. Izuku’s room was up first, and he blushed as almost everyone honed in on the stuffed rabbit.

Ochako giggled as she said, “Aww, It’s like your costume, Izuku!”

“That’s why Neito got it for me, yeah.”

Iida’s voice cut through their conversation. “These are some dense books, Midoriya. The quirk theory isn’t surprising, but I didn’t expect the number of history, law, and political works on your shelves.”

“Leave it to you to focus on the books, Iida,” Kaminari snickered. “I, on the other hand, am a bit surprised that he doesn’t have any All Might figures. This is a really diverse collection, so it’s kinda weird to see him missing.”

Izuku chuckled nervously as he said, “Ah, I used to have some of him too. I just kind of outgrew him, I guess? Besides, it feels weird to have figures of our teachers.”

Kaminari accepted that with a nod, and Izuku was thankful when they moved on to the next room. Fumikage seemed especially resistant to letting anyone in his room, but in the end, Tooru and Ashido got him to give in. His room was practically covered in black, and Izuku’s eyes sparkled when he saw that Fumikage had real swords.

‘I wonder if he knows how to use them? I’ll have to ask. I bet Hawks could teach him if he doesn’t. Or Spinner if Fumikage winds up joining us.’ Fumikage was clearly embarrassed to have them poking around his room, though, so Izuku put that thought aside and encouraged everyone to leave as quickly as possible.

Aoyama’s room was so sparkly that Izuku’s eyes hurt looking into it, and everyone collectively decided to skip Mineta’s room. Ojiro’s room was plain, sticking mostly with neutral tones and a few personal touches here and there. Iida’s room looked like a library with the sheer volume of books that he had, not to mention the absurd number of spare glasses. Kaminari’s room was filled to the brim with stuff for his hobbies, and there was such a vast array that Izuku was genuinely impressed by how many things he seemed to do.

Kouda had an actual bunny in his room, and Izuku was glad to see that he put so much effort into caring for them. His whole room was bunny-proofed --any wires out of the way and protected with thick tape, cleaning supplies far off the ground, and padding on some rough corners-- so that they could always free-roam. Kirishima’s room looked more like a training room than a bedroom, and Shouji’s was super minimalistic. ‘I guess that makes sense. Furniture still tends to be made with a standard size in mind, and it’d be easy for him to accidentally knock over any clutter.’

Sero’s room was surprisingly stylish, but it got overshadowed by Shouto’s when it was revealed that he completely redid the flooring and walls of his room to fit a traditional Japanese style. Satou’s was last, and while his room was pretty simple, he instantly won the favor of almost everyone in the class when he pulled out a cake that he had been working on.

After they finished eating, they finally made their way to look at the girls’ rooms. Jirou had a bunch of different musical instruments in hers, and Tooru’s was super cutesy with several stuffed animals displayed on her bed and shelves. Ashido’s room was a clash of animal-print fabrics of every kind and color, and Ochako’s room focused on the basics in a way that he’d come to expect from her. ‘Even with Shouto’s permission, she really wouldn’t buy much for herself. Nothing that wasn’t necessary, anyway.’

Yaoyorozu’s room was the last one that they visited, and because of how cramped it was, everyone just peered in from the outside. ‘This is all really fancy stuff. She brought it straight from home, I bet.’ In the end, Satou was the winner of what had morphed into a room contest, and everyone went to bed feeling closer than they had before.

‘Everyone is working so hard to make everything go back to the way it was before. I’m sorry, but I can’t allow that to happen.’

-

The next day, Aizawa asked everyone to suit up and go to Gym Gamma so that they could prepare Ultimate Moves for the Provisional Hero Licensing Exam. Izuku was a bit sad to leave his gloves behind, but he had too many touch-based quirks to keep them without modification. ‘I’ll have to go to the support department at some point… It’s exciting that we’re working on Ultimate Moves though! They’re definitely important to have, and it’ll be useful for me to have distinctive attacks, even as a villain. Then again, I’m pretty sure that Blackwhip and Fa Jin will count as the two minimum Ultimate Moves that I need. I can experiment with some of my new quirks too, but I’ll probably focus on helping the others come up with theirs. That’s part of being class president too.’

“Right, now that everyone is here,” Aizawa hummed. “Heroes deal with accidents, catastrophes, and disasters, both natural and manmade. It’s our job to save people from just about any situation imaginable. In the provisional licensing test, your ability to adapt to those situations will be observed, naturally.”

Midnight nodded. “Intelligence gathering, decision making, mobility, combat prowess, communication skills, charisma, and leadership abilities… The test varies from year to year, but the applicants are always tested on a wide variety of criteria. Among those, you can be certain that combat prowess will be heavily prioritized for potential heroes. These Ultimate Moves could be the difference between whether you pass or fail.”

Cementoss smiled and said, “If you can keep a cool head and act with decisive, consistent moves, then that will show a high level of combat prowess.”

“There’s nothing that says your Ultimate Moves must be an attack, either,” Ectoplasm continued. “For example, take Iida’s Reciproburst. That sort of extreme speed boost on its own is enough to be called an Ultimate Move.”

‘Yeah, I’m definitely going to be good to go, then.’

“You truly believe so?!” Iida cried out.

“I get it. So we come up with moves that give us a big advantage in battle,” Satou murmured, chuckling at Iida’s obvious excitement.

“Exactly! Take Kamui Woods, for example. His Lacquered Chain Prison is a cookie-cutter Ultimate Move. Everyone knows what it’s gonna do and they recognize it when they see it.” Midnight smiled as she watched everyone grow more excited, and Izuku wouldn’t deny hoping to test out a few new things too.

“Your summer training camp was cut short, but the quirk training we started there was just another step toward creating Ultimate Moves. In other words, until the second semester starts, you’ll all be working to enhance your quirks and create your Ultimate Moves. This’ll be super intense training for all of you.” Aizawa grinned at them all as he said, “Give it your all. Use your Plus Ultra mentality to smash past your limits.”

The number of Ectoplasm clones made it clear that everyone would be training alone today, so Izuku flew up to a free one and landed on the platform, muttering to himself. “So I’ve definitely got Abyssal Whips and Flicker, but would Flight count? I guess it’s more of a transportation thing than something to be used in battle, but Hawks was teaching us aerial tactics too. Safeguard definitely counts too. Telekinesis could also work, especially if I used it in conjunction with Flight--”

“You’ve got plenty of ideas, don’t you?” Ectoplasm chuckled. “Why don’t you show me what you’re sure about before we move on to the new stuff?”

Izuku let Blackwhip flare to life, chuckling as the tendrils ruffled his hair before waving around happily. “Abyssal Whips is the first one, but that’s just how I’ve been referring to this technique in general. Since they can be used for capture, combat, and mobility, I was thinking of having three different moves for it. Abyssal Whips: Snare for capture, Abyssal Whips: Lash for combat, and Abyssal Whips: Tether for mobility! This would have the added benefit of keeping opponents from knowing which one I’m going to use until it’s too late, and it’ll also excite civilians while they try to figure out which one I’m going for.”

“A series of Ultimate Moves, huh? That’s very clever. Show me how you’d distinguish them.”

“It’s mostly in the movements!” Izuku called out, grinning as his tendrils tightened around Ectoplasm. “Abyssal Whips: Snare moves in a more fluid way, wrapping around the target and constricting them like a snake. Struggling just makes the hold tighter.”

Izuku called the tendrils back before shifting stances. They rocketed forward with no warning, lashing out at Ectoplasm as he barely dodged the first few before Izuku got a solid hit in. He called the tendrils back and explained, “Abyssal Whips: Lash, as you can see, is a lot more chaotic. I treat each tendril like a standard whip, aiming to knock an opponent into the ground with a surprise downward lash while they’re distracted by the ones aiming for their sides.”

After Ectoplasm’s clone stood back up --Izuku held back so that he didn’t destroy him completely-- four tendrils rose up before rushing to the ground, burrowing beneath the earth and raising Izuku off the ground. “Abyssal Whips: Tether is a bit misleading. That one uses stabbing motions, and while I’d primarily use it for mobility in an instance where flying isn’t viable, it can also do this.” Two of the four tendrils broke free from the earth beside Ectoplasm, stabbing up before retreating into the holes they left behind.

“Most people can’t get up to me in the air. I’d have to be really careful about where I use it though. The concept of demented whack-a-mole is pretty funny, but it could cause a lot of property damage.”

Izuku lowered himself to the ground, looking to Ectoplasm who weakly said, “Yeah, those all count. Now, what is Flicker?”

“Something I worked on with Hawks!” Izuku jumped around a little bit, storing kinetic energy before blurring over to Ectoplasm in less than a second. “I can use kinetic energy to make myself move a lot faster. I’ve got a good bit stored away for emergencies, but I wanted to show you how I gather the energy for it too.”

“It’s like you’re teleporting…”

“I sure hope so! People assuming that will only help me.”

“... Right. That’s four then. As for Flight, that ability in and of itself probably couldn’t be called an Ultimate Move. If you come up with specific aerial moves later, then let me know. What is Safeguard?”

A gentle, golden glow surrounded Izuku’s body. “Safeguard lets me use energy as a type of force field! I can also--” Izuku stepped forward and lightly touched Ectoplasm. “--use it on others. Neito and I were testing its limits these past few days. It takes about a dozen or so lighter blows or two particularly strong blows before it disappears.”

Neito had been terrified to stand still while Izuku swung a 25% One for All fist at his stomach, but they were both glad to see that it completely nullified the damage it would’ve caused. ‘I’m not sure if two is the default or if there’s something powerful enough --like 100% of One for All-- that it would break under the first blow, but it would probably nullify the damage from that first blow either way. That can make or break a battle.’

“That’s…” Ectoplasm huffed. “There’s such a thing as being too versatile, kid.”

Izuku only reached forward with a shit-eating grin on his face, brushed a blue, glowing hand against Ectoplasm, and said, “I call this one Whirlwind.”

His teacher shouted in alarm as he floated up, and Izuku giggled as he rapidly spun Ectoplasm around in circles. The clone staggered when Izuku put him back on the ground, looking seconds away from getting sick.

“Yeah, that worked out how I thought it would.”

Ectoplasm glared at him before saying, “You’ve already got six Ultimate Moves, so clearly you don’t need my help. I’ll be going now.” The clone jumped off the platform, and Izuku turned off Safeguard before sitting down and taking a few sips of water.

‘That went well. I guess I’ll help the others starting tomorrow, then. I need to find a time that I can talk to Iida alone too. I doubt they’ll let us off campus any time soon, but I want to be able to heal Ingenium as soon as possible. Even with the energy from the nomu, I’ll probably need to kill a few trees beforehand. I’ll have to repair a lot of nerves.’

Izuku startled when he saw All Might heading his way, choking on his water.

“Are you alright, my boy?”

His eyes watered as he nodded. “Y-yeah! I’m fine. Just taking a break since I’ve already got several Ultimate Moves. I’m thinking over other possibilities right now.”

All Might nodded, giving him a strained smile before he went off to help some of the others, and the next several days went by in a flash. Fumikage wound up getting another golden scale on his costume --specifically on the back of his cloak-- wanting it to be visible even while he was wearing his cloak. The giant golden symbol made Izuku smile when he saw it, and he was even more ecstatic to hear that Tooru’s costume could now become visible. It was a soft pink and baby blue costume that reminded Izuku of cotton candy, and she flexed her arms proudly when she joined the class while wearing it, a golden scale emblazoned on each shoulder.

Since each member of the Scales of Justice had at least one Ultimate Move on their own, they started working together to make combination moves. Izuku, Fumikage, and Dark Shadow discovered that Dark Shadow could still move around if they were wrapped up in Blackwhip, so Izuku shielded them from the light and increased their strength by giving them shadow armor. They named that move Total Eclipse, and it wound up inspiring an Ultimate Move that Fumikage called Abyssal Black Body. Dark Shadow was delighted to become the shadow armor in that scenario, compensating for how they previously struggled with fighting close range.

Shouto and Ochako wound up intentionally recreating the move she used against him in the Sports Festival, and they called it Hail Storm. Tooru worked with Shouto to create a move they called Light Dome, and Tooru gleefully cackled as she used Warp Refraction to bounce light around an enclosed glacier dome like it was a disco ball. ‘That would be incredibly disorienting to get caught up in, even if that person was capable of breaking the ice.’

Izuku and Ochako combined Telekinesis and Zero Gravity to create Never-ending Landslide, an Ultimate Move that had Izuku controlling giant boulders --which could also be applied to cars and potentially even buildings in the future depending on Ochako's limits-- without even breaking a sweat. After remembering that Izuku couldn’t feel anything through Blackwhip, Shouto turned to him and asked how he felt about setting the tendrils on fire. Ten minutes later, they named the move Hell Whips before Izuku started talking about possibilities with Tooru. The Ultimate Move they came up with wasn’t a combat move like the others, but Izuku was still super proud of it. They combined the golden glow of Safeguard with Tooru’s Warp Refraction to create Nightlight: a move that could light up a dark area without blinding anyone in the process.

‘That move would be super useful for search and rescue operations. It could also be used to disorient opponents by rapidly changing the light levels since Tooru can see just as well in the dark as she can the light. I’d have to get out of the area, but that wouldn’t be an issue since I just use Safeguard on her for this anyway.’

Another massive explosion sounded off from across Gym Gamma, and Izuku instinctively looked toward where Bakugo was training. He watched a large chunk of rubble started to fall off that platform, hurtling toward where All Might stood. A tendril of Blackwhip shot toward the rubble, wrapping around it and stopping its fall before setting it down next to All Might and Aizawa. The tendril retreated back to Izuku, and though it looked like All Might was going to come over and thank him, a voice called out that made everyone stop moving.

“That’s enough, class 1-A! Gym Gamma is supposed to be ours this afternoon.”

Izuku perked up at the sound of Vlad King’s voice, smiling when he saw Neito at the front of his class. He loved the aesthetics of Neito’s costume, and the fact that his brother used three stopwatches to trick people into thinking he could only copy three at once was genius. ‘It’s so cool that he can have pretty much infinite copies, even if his time with them is naturally limited. Now that he’s got those hair rings, he’ll have a much larger arsenal and not have to worry about running out of time so much.’

He squinted as class 1-B got closer, eyes widening when he saw that Neito had made his own costume change. “You decided to join after all!” Izuku practically vibrated in place as Neito joined him, Ochako, Shouto, Tooru, and Fumikage where they were standing near the entrance.

“Of course I did. Even if our team is mostly made up of 1-A members, you are my brother. We work well together. It just makes sense that we’d be part of the same team.” Neito leaned against Izuku as he whispered, “Did you hear about how half the people that take the test fail it? How much do you wanna bet that Bakugo will do something stupid that puts him in that group?”

“That’s a sucker’s bet.”

Neito laughed and said, “It’s a shame that we won’t all be able to work together during the test, but I’ll just have to make do. Actually, there is another way that I could… Todoroki, Uraraka, would you mind lending me a hair for my support rings? I’ll be careful with your quirks, I assure you.”

They both nodded and handed one over, though Shouto appeared to have a brief crisis after he gave Neito a white hair and plucked a red one as well. “I’m not sure if you’d only copy half of my quirk with hair from one side. It would probably be best to test that before the exam.”

Neito blinked, tapping his foot in contemplation as he said, “Huh… That’s definitely something to try out. If I only copied half would I be able to use your fire or ice on both sides, or would it still be restricted to the usual side? Actually, I need to make sure that I copy your resistance as well. Sometimes it’s built into the quirk, but sometimes resistances are a separate genetic factor that doesn’t carry over for me.”

“I really don’t get how it took them so long to see that you’re brothers,” Shouto deadpanned.

“Hey!”

All of his friends --and Neito, the traitor-- laughed at Izuku’s outcry. He pouted, turning away from them as he grumbled under his breath.

Ochako giggled before dancing around and poking at Izuku’s cheek. He puffed them out further in mock protest, and she burst into another peal of laughter that had his face going red. Shouto stepped forward, laying a warm hand on his shoulder as he said, “Sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you…”

“No, no, you’re totally fine Shouto!” His friend’s earnest expression made Izuku’s heart flutter, and he froze when he realized what this was.

‘I like them. Both of them. Ochako and Shouto are both kind, earnest, determined people, even if it comes across in different ways. Ochako has a way of lifting up a whole room with her energy; I feel myself getting pumped up right alongside her. She refuses to leave anyone behind --well, unless they’re someone like Bakugo-- and my heart gets all light and fluttery when I spend time with her. Shouto is a quieter, more awkward kind of supportive, and it’s endearing. He cares more about protecting his precious people than anything else, and that makes being one of those people feel so much more special. I never expected him to be so passionate. My heart always feels like it’s beating out of my chest when his eyes are on me.’

“Izuku? Are you alright?” Neito’s words sounded concerned, but his shit-eating grin told Izuku that he had an idea of what was on his mind.

“Yep! Perfectly fine! Nothing to worry about!”

As 1-A left Gym Gamma for 1-B to use, Izuku could only think, ‘Well, it could definitely be worse. At least I know that I won’t have to say goodbye to them either way. They’re seeing this through with me to the end. I have time to figure out what to do.’

For now, he would just focus on making sure that they all got licenses and prepared for the next step of their plan.

Chapter Text

The entire class was a blend of nervous and excited energy when they arrived at their testing site: the National Takoba Arena. ‘I’m just glad that we’re allowed to use our costumes here. It would’ve sucked to be put on the back foot like that, and it would’ve made all of our practice fighting around Tooru while she’s invisible pointless, at least for this test.’

“We still don’t have any clue what this test’s about. Can we really earn our licenses?” Mineta fretted, shaking with nerves.

“Mineta. It’s not a matter of can. You will,” Aizawa said before looking over them all. “Earn your provisional licenses by passing this test, and you’ll be recognized as semi-pros with all the perks and responsibilities that come with that. Show them your best.”

“I’m feeling all pumped up now!” Kirishima cheered. “Why don’t we do our cheer?!”

“Plus ULTRA!!”

There was a sudden increase of volume in the second half of their school motto, and Izuku looked over curiously to see that a Shiketsu student had joined them.

“It’s bad manners to intrude on another school’s group huddle, Inasa.”

“Ah, you’re right! I am so very sorry!” Inasa cried out, bowing so low that his head cracked the ground beneath him.

“Are you okay? I’ve got first aid supplies in my costume kit if you need them. That looked like it hurt a lot,” Izuku muttered as he stepped forward, not waiting for an answer when he saw that Inasa was bleeding.

‘Something minor like this should hardly take any energy at all, so I guess I could just...’ Izuku gently rested his hand against Inasa’s head, letting it glow green as the blood stopped and the scabs formed, disappeared, and shifted back to healed skin. “Shouto, could you make an ice pack for me? He’ll probably still have a headache for a little while.”

“Woah, you can heal?!” Inasa cried out. “UA really is the coolest!”

Aizawa sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose as he said, “I would’ve appreciated knowing that you could do that, Midoriya. You’re not supposed to be using your quirk right now either--”

The air cooled as Shouto made a small chunk of smooth ice --like a larger version of the ice cubes he practiced making with Hawks-- before putting it in a plastic bag and handing it over to Izuku. He looked over at Inasa, eyebrows furrowed, as he said, “Please be careful. You have to take care of yourself before you can save others.”

“And neither of you are listening to me. I’ll let it slide this time, but only because it was for first aid,” Aizawa grumbled.

“My name’s Inasa Yoarashi! Everyone just calls me Inasa! What’s your name, healer?!”

Izuku chuckled nervously, a bit overwhelmed by Inasa’s energy, as he said, “Izuku Midoriya. I’m 1-A’s class president. It’s nice to meet you!”

“Don’t know why you’d waste time healing the competition, Deku.”

“Because some people are capable of caring about others, Bakugo,” Shouto snapped back. “Head injuries bleed profusely, making them dangerous to leave unattended. Inasa cracked his head on concrete. It’s not like he just scraped his knee.”

“Woah! You’re a lot more passionate than I remember. Good, good! I’m really excited now!”

“Than he remembers? Does Inasa know Shouto?” Tooru questioned, humming softly.

Aizawa answered that question for them all. “Inasa Yoarashi… He’s very powerful. He got placed into your grade at UA under special recommendation, and he was the top scorer during the recommendation exam. We’re not sure why he chose not to attend.”

‘Huh… That’s interesting. He’s definitely someone to keep an eye on.’

Ms. Joke and her students from Ketsubutsu came over to greet them after that, and while Izuku would love to ask her questions about her quirk, he wanted to check in with his team first. “So, we’re all sticking together, right? No one will expect combination moves this early in the game, especially not from first-years.”

“Yeah. My goggles will keep me from catching Tooru in any attacks, so we should be good,” Shouto agreed.

“It’s better to do this with friends! Besides, we plan on debuting as a hero team, so working as one during the licensing exam makes sense,” Ochako said with a nod, fire in her eyes as she hyped herself up.

“I feel confident in this! We’ve worked hard to learn how to fight with each other. No one's gonna know what hit them!” Tooru cheered.

“Dark Shadow and I will be by your side. Let us dance in the dark.”

They all went to the changing rooms to get into costume --Izuku had recently modified his gloves, making them fingerless so that he could use his touch-based quirks while still protecting the rest of his hand-- before heading into the debriefing room. Izuku didn’t miss the confusion from other schools when they saw the common element across all their costumes. ‘Hero teams are only getting rarer nowadays. It’s almost a shame that we won’t actually be forming one.’

“Right… You’re all here for the Provisional Hero Licensing Exam. My name is Mera, and I’m with the Hero Public Safety Commission. My favorite type of sleep is non-REM sleep. Ugh, I’m so tired. Why are we so short-staffed...?”

‘His exhaustion is like Shinsou’s dialed up to eleven. Is he even going to be capable of making judgment calls in a test like this?’

“Getting right to it… The first round will have all 1,540 of the examinees competing in a massive free-for-all exercise. Consider it an elimination round. Today’s society is saturated with heroes, and with All Might’s retirement, many people are worried about the role that heroes will play in our society. They worry that no one will be able to live up to his ideals.”

Mera sighed, massaging the back of his neck as he said, “That being said… Telling those who risk their lives in order to save others to ask for nothing in return would be rather harsh, especially in modern society. So, whether it’s done for compensation or out of dedication to the cause, we have no shortage of heroes out there working to save people and put villains away.”

‘I wonder what they’d think if they knew what All Might said to children on rooftops. Or if they knew about the finals. I don’t want to make a spectacle out of what he’s done to me, but that would certainly shake the foundations of their belief in hero society… I may have to consider it.’

“Nowadays, the amount of time it takes to resolve any given incident is incredibly short. Those of you who earn your provisional licenses will be confronting such situations that unfold at a breakneck pace. Anyone who can’t keep up is doomed to fail, and that’s why we’re testing you on speed. Only the first 100 examinees who meet the requirements will pass!”

‘Talk about a thin margin for error. It makes sense, but…’ Izuku clenched his fists, looking at his teammates and nodding to each of them. ‘I need to get this license as quickly as possible. It’ll be the only way to get some freedom of movement again.’

“Now, the passing requirements will involve these.” Mera held up a glowing target and a ball that was the perfect size for it. “Each examinee will get three targets. Place them wherever you like on your body as long as they’re exposed. Each of you will also carry six balls, and the targets are rigged to light up only when struck by a ball. You’re disqualified the instant that all three of your targets are hit and are expected to leave the arena.”

‘Safeguard is going to be helpful here. The balls should bounce right off of those barriers, and it’ll make it easier to defend our weak points. I can’t imagine they’ll be much different impact-wise than the tennis balls that Neito and I chucked at each other, so a dozen or so shielded hits…’

“Those with three illuminated targets are considered defeated. To pass, you have to defeat two other examinees. Your targets won’t light up if you’ve passed, not even if they’re hit. They deactivate as soon as your name is in the system, so there’s no saving yourself by attacking examinees who have already gotten through. That’s it for the rules.”

‘So we don’t have to leave the arena as soon as we pass? I assume that most people will, but being safe from elimination also provides a good opportunity to cover for classmates and team members…’

“We’ll be handing out targets and balls once this place opens up. The exam will begin one minute after the examinees are all fully equipped.”

“Opens up?” Shouto murmured.

The walls of the debriefing room all unfolded to reveal a massive exam site, filled with different environments that would showcase a wide variety of quirks. ‘It’s kinda like the USJ…’

“With every type of environment available to you, there’s no excuse for not giving your best showing. Go to an area suited for you and make the best use of your talents. We’ve carefully thought about all factors when we came up with these environments. So many nights of sleep lost to this…”

“What area do you guys want to head to? We should try to play to our strengths in general, but we also need to consider how many people will head for each zone. Going to a less populated one might be safer, but it’ll also make it harder for all five of us to pass. Not to mention, UA is the only school here where people know about our quirks because of the Sports Festival. They don’t know all that we can do, but we’re still at a disadvantage,” Izuku muttered, and though he was talking to the other Scales of Justice, he noticed that most of 1-A listened too, dividing themselves into groups that they could work with.

Ochako hummed before saying, “The cityscape will probably be our best bet. None of us will be at a disadvantage there, and given how many heroes work in the city…”

“Examinees will be drawn to it like moths to the flame,” Fumikage agreed with a nod. 

The suited Commission agents handed them their targets, and once they all had them secured, Izuku tapped every member of his class --minus Bakugo, who refused, and Mineta-- before activating Safeguard. Fa Jin thrummed beneath his skin as they ran toward the cityscape, storing energy as his feet pounded against the pavement. 

“3, 2, 1… Start!”

Just as he expected, Ketsubutsu Academy converged on the UA students immediately. Shouto stomped his foot and created a massive wall of ice to shield them from the flying balls, and Izuku warily watched the students on the other side of the wall throw hardened balls into the ground. Danger Sense pinged.

“Underground!” he shouted as he flew into the air. Jirou used her Ultimate Move, Heartbeat Distortion, to rip up the dirt that the balls were traveling through, though the ice wall that Shouto made was destroyed in the process. Izuku used everyone’s distraction to tap each ball that he’d stored in his supply pouches with blue, glowing hands.

‘The one that hardened the balls is the biggest threat. Those could shatter Safeguard with a few solid hits. I don’t like the trajectory quirk either. They’ve gotta go.’ Izuku shot each of his six balls toward them with Telekinesis, grinning when he hit two of the three targets on each student. They both shouted with shock as they remembered that he was in the air. Hardened balls flew at him, but Danger Sense allowed him to bat them aside with Blackwhip without breaking a sweat. He giggled as the last of their targets lit up, passing out an extra ball or two to his teammates as he deactivated Telekinesis.

“H-how?” they stammered.

Mera’s voice rang out over the intercom. “Our first examinee has passed, eliminating the two necessary to move forward. Oh, right, I’m going to be doing play-by-play announcements from the broadcast booth.”

Izuku’s eyes flickered over to where Tooru was creeping up on the other two students. She put all of her targets low, making it less likely for anyone to notice them before it was too late. When one of the remaining students bent over to press his hands to the ground, swearing to avenge his defeated classmates, Izuku used Blackwhip to prevent him from touching it. He could feel the tendrils tingling as the boy grasped them, but it wasn’t enough to do more than tickle.

“Hey, what gives?! You’ve already passed!”

“The rules never said that we had to leave as soon as we passed,” Izuku chuckled. “I’m just giving them an assist.”

Three targets lit up in quick succession as Tooru got the guy out. Dark Shadow and Fumikage quickly followed suit with the girl that was in the group, grabbing her and getting her out before she could show them what her quirk was. Her eyes were wide with shock.

“Suddenly, 124 total examinees are out! Of those, 120 were all taken down by a single fighter. Keep up the pace, everyone.”

It didn’t take long for the Scales of Justice to all pass. Students from schools all over the country targeted 1-A, and Izuku made a habit of drawing their attention to him so that his classmates could get them out.  The look of shock and horror on one of the examinee’s faces when they broke Safeguard and hit one of Izuku’s targets only for it to not light up was beautiful. He grinned before putting up another force field, immobilizing them, and allowing Jirou to get the second out she needed to pass.

“You guys are crazy,” she muttered. “I’m going to get out of here. Make sure to save some energy for the next round.”

Fumikage hummed before he said, “I will go with you. Dark Shadow and I will alert you to which of our classmates join us in recuperation.”

“Sounds great, thanks!” Izuku called out over his shoulder, grabbing another couple of students for Kouda to tap out. Sero wrapped up a few examinees with his tape as well, beaming as he lit up their targets and began assisting Izuku in immobilizing them for others. 

‘Myself, Tooru, Fumikage, Shouto, Ochako, Iida, Jirou, Ashido, Yaoyorozu, Shouji, Ojiro, Satou,  Kouda, and Sero... That’s fourteen of our classmates that I’m sure have passed now. Good, that’s very good. I just need to track down Tsuyu, Aoyama, Kirishima, Kaminari, Mineta and Bakugo to see how they’re doing, not that I really care if Bakugo or Mineta pass…’ Izuku was only going to look for them at all because another classmate could be with them.

Now that the classmates that stuck with them had all passed, it was time for them to split up. “Shouto, Ochako, will you two head toward the water zone? Tsuyu is sure to be there if she hasn’t passed already. Tooru and I will head over toward the mountain zone.”

“Got it!” The two of them nodded and ran off, and Izuku flew up into the sky while carrying Tooru so that they could make faster time.

“As of now, there are 68, no 70, examinees who have passed. Time is running out.”

“Wait, why is that girl from Shiketsu just sitting there?” Tooru questioned. When Izuku looked where her glove was pointing, he saw someone sitting up on top of a platform all on their own, looking out over a group of fighting students.

“I’m not sure. Maybe she already passed too? We wouldn’t risk anything by going to check.”

They flew over, and when Izuku started lowering himself to the ground, the girl cheered. “Izuku, I was looking for you! It’s nice to meet you, Tooru! Have you--” The girl suddenly froze, unable to utter a sound.

Izuku blinked as he studied the girl and looked around the area, trying to figure out what was going on here. “Who… are you? How do you know me?”

“Aww, you don’t recognize me? I’d say that I’m hurt, but that was kind of the point. I’d show you who I was if I could, but it’s not gonna let me.”

Suddenly, it hit him. “You’re--?! What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to see you, Izuku! We didn’t get the chance to exchange numbers last time. I couldn’t pass up the chance when I knew you’d be here.”

“What is going on here?” Tooru questioned indignantly. “It feels like you’re both dancing around something just because I’m here, and I don’t like it one bit. Aren’t we teammates, Izuku? What are you hiding?”

Izuku activated Telepathic Connection, pleading, ‘Please hear me out, Tooru. This isn’t as bad as it looks.’

Tooru looked between him and Himiko before huffing loudly. ‘Fine. Can you please explain this, then?’

‘The hero system is… Our society is built on hurting people, and I can’t just stand by and pretend not to see it. Remember what Mera said at the start of this? Our society is oversaturated with heroes. And heroes are nothing if they don’t have villains to fight. Social programs are at an all-time low, quirk discrimination is at an all-time high, and something like petty theft is enough to get someone labeled a villain for life, pushing them further into crime the second they get out of jail because there is nothing else left for them. The poor are punished for being poor, all the while the Commission lines their pockets and the pockets of the heroes that keep people complacent. I want to help people, really help them. I don’t think that they’ll let me do that as a hero. Not in any way that matters. So I… I decided that I’d do what needed to be done regardless. Even if it labeled me as a villain.’

“Are you doing that telepathy thing?” Himiko whispered. When Tooru turned to look at her --something that even Himiko could see thanks to her goggles being visible-- Himiko looked away sheepishly. “Continue.”

‘I know that things suck right now, but is this really the best way? There has to be a way to change things from the inside, right?’

‘I doubt it. You haven’t watched the way Mom has struggled against the system for years, Tooru. She has to fight to get basic human rights for villains respected, and even then, sometimes she loses. Our system will literally break its own rules just to further put down the people that it forced into villainy. If partnering with the League of Villains is what it takes to end that vicious cycle--’

‘The League of Villains?! Izuku, you’re one of my best friends, but I can’t believe you! They’ve attacked our class twice now; why would you join them?’

‘I know, I know,’ Izuku responded with a grimace. ‘But they’re also in the best position to actually change hero society. Part of why I’m joining them is to steer them in a better direction. They’ve got a lot of overarching, bigger goals, but the small things that will get them there are less defined. I’m trying to point them at targets like the Commission instead of UA. I only struck a deal with them after I got kidnapped; I promise that I had nothing to do with the attacks. I just… I think that they could all use some help too. A lot of people joined Shigaraki at the USJ just because he said that he was going to change things. So many people were that desperate for change… I can’t ignore that. I won’t.’

Tooru looked at him and sighed. ‘What am I going to do with you? I’ve never met someone who cares so much before. Fine. You think that the League of Villains is our best chance at this? You’re certain?’ Izuku nodded. ‘Then it sounds like you’ll need me. You were the first person to ever consistently bring me into the circle, to refuse to forget that I was there. Half the time, even my own parents… Who else knows?’

One of the perks of Telepathic Connection was that tones and emotions carried over the connection while it was in use. Tooru could feel how much this meant to him and how honest he was being, and in turn, Izuku could tell that she wasn’t lying to him about joining. ‘Thank you, Tooru! So far it’s just me, Ochako, Shouto, and now you, but we hope to bring it up with Fumikage at some point. I’ll probably need to talk to Neito too.’

Tooru turned to Himiko and asked, “What did you need to talk to Izuku about?”

“Oh, did it work out?” Sludge to dripped down Himiko’s face, revealing a golden eye and a fanged grin that was quickly masked by the Shiketsu student’s face covering her own again. “I’m so glad!” Himiko cheered. She lowered her voice as she said, “Shiggy’s working on recruits for now. I’m sure that he’ll be happy to hear about Tooru. Do you have your phone on you, or should I write it down?” Izuku handed it over, and when he got it back, Izuku saw that he had a new contact listed under Camie.

His confusion must have shown on his face because Himiko whispered, “That’s the name of the girl I’m impersonating. If anyone asks, then you can just say that you talked to her during these exams, right? I’m not trying to pass.”

“Oh, that’s really clever! I doubt anyone at UA would recognize her name anyway.”

Himiko beamed. “Thank you! I’ll hold onto your number and text you mine if I have to get a new one. Be safe! I’ll stay in touch.” Himiko winked at them before running off, and even though she had put him in a rough spot, Izuku was happy about the way things turned out.

“86 have made it through. Only fourteen spots left!”

“Let’s get going, yeah? We still need to check on the others. I don’t think there’s anyone from UA over here.”

“Right!” Izuku agreed, taking to the skies with Tooru again.

Fumikage’s voice came from their earpieces. Izuku and Tooru both straightened up as he said, “Tsuyu joined us a few moments ago, and Shouto and Ochako alerted me that they’ve now joined up with Aoyama. They only need to help him eliminate one more person.”

“Roger that. Any news on the other four?”

“Not that I’m aware--” Fumikage paused before saying, “They’ve all joined us. It looks as if 1-A in its entirety has passed.”

“We’ll fly right over then, Fumikage!” Tooru cheered, and Izuku grinned as they took off toward the waiting area. He and Tooru walked in to see everyone else, and they went over to the magnetic keys that would let them take off their targets.

“Sure took your time, Deku,” Bakugo sneered.

“He was the first one to pass, Bakugo. Izuku just wanted to make sure that we all did.” Ochako rolled her eyes before jogging over to them and saying, “Make sure to rest while you can. I’m sure that the next part will be harder.”

“Yeah, I will. Sorry everyone, but we’ll be sticking with the team for this next part.”

“That’s totally fine, Midoriya!” Sero gave him a thumbs up. “You guys show them what the Scales of Justice can do. It’s been super cool to watch you guys work together while we were training! I’m glad you were on our side out there.”

“We will. Good luck to everyone,” Shouto murmured, giving Izuku a reassuring smile.

‘Right… he knows how much I hate thinking about the fact that we won’t all be on the same side forever. Thank you, Shouto.’

It was easier to do this when Izuku knew that he wasn't alone. 'I'll never be that sad, lonely little boy ever again. I don't have to be. I've got loyal friends by my side and something to fight for, and even if younger me would be horrified to hear that I'm a villain, I think he'd understand.'

Little Izuku used to wish on falling stars that he'd wake up to a changed world, one where being quirkless didn't mean that his teachers and classmates hated him. As he grew older, he would instead beg for a hero to come save him from even one day of the torment.

But nobody came. This was just the natural consequence of that.

-

“Now will all 100 of you please watch the screen?”

Izuku glanced at the television that looked over the arena they were just in, eyes widening as everything exploded. ‘It’s only been a few minutes since the last people got here. Those bombs were already there while we were running around?! Someone using the wrong quirk in the wrong place could’ve killed all of us.’

“Round two is the last one. You examinees will venture into these ruins and prove your worth by rescuing innocent victims. You will not act as ordinary civilians, but as those who have hypothetically earned their provisional licenses. You’re being tested on how well you respond to emergency situations.”

Izuku squinted at the screen, eyes widening as he saw people staggering around the ruins. Some of them crawled underneath loose rubble that made his hair stand on end. ‘I know that they have professionals for this sort of thing, but one accident could turn this into a real emergency.’

“Not to worry. Everyone that you’ll be rescuing is a highly trained professional rescuee. Please welcome the good people from Help Us Company or HUC for short. The members of the HUC will be feigning injuries all across the field. It is your task to rescue them. You will all be scored on how well you perform these rescues. Those who have the required points at the end of the exam will pass. We’ll start in ten minutes, so get ready now.”

“It looks like Kamino,” Izuku muttered. 

“Will you be alright, Izuku? This is a scene of great sorrow for you.”

“I’ll be fine, Fumikage. Thank you.”

Izuku sat back and observed as students from Shiketsu talked to his classmates, running through rescue scenarios in his head. He knew that he would have to be incredibly careful, and he couldn’t use Healing Transfer here either since they wouldn’t actually be hurt. ‘It feels like a waste of first aid supplies, but I’ll probably have to use them anyway. At least we all know what to do.’

An alarm blared overhead. “Terrorists have launched a massive attack! There’s wide-scale destruction throughout the city. Buildings are collapsing and people are hurt! With most roads out of commission, rescue and relief squads are having a difficult time reaching the scene, so it’s up to you heroes to take charge and rescue the civilians until they arrive. Save every life you can!”

Everyone ran toward the nearest cityscape, knowing that the largest number of potential injuries would be there. The first actor that Izuku saw was a crying child who was begging them to save him with shaking sobs. “Over there! My grandpa’s trapped! He’s gonna be crushed!”

Izuku knelt down in front of him, pulling out bandages and disinfectant as he said, “Everything is going to be alright, so just take a few deep breaths for me, okay? Can you walk?” The actor nodded. “Then let’s get you out of here. I’m gonna take care of your head and have my teammates find your grandpa, okay?”

He carefully cleaned the fake blood off the actor before wrapping his head, nodding over to where Fumikage and Ochako were pulling an elderly actor out and reassuring him. The rubble was floating safely overhead, and Dark Shadow shielded the old man with their body, ready to catch any other fallen debris. As soon as he was in a more stable area, Izuku’s teammates also started administering first aid.

Izuku turned to the child actor and said, “See? I know it was scary, but you’re both safe now.”

“Very well done. You stayed calm and collected, ensured the safety and health of both victims, and reassured them in the process. I noticed that the five of you share a symbol. You gonna be a hero team or something?” Izuku nodded.

‘We’ll certainly be something, alright.’

“Not many of those nowadays, but you work well together. Keep it up.”

“Spectra! Can you take him over to the waiting room? It’ll need to be set up as an evac center.”

“You can count on me!” She walked over to the two of them, voice light and friendly as she said, “Equilibrium and I are gonna get you and your grandpa out of here. We’ll be right with each other, so you won’t have to worry about being separated again either.”

“Exaggerating your voice to reassure victims is smart when you can’t rely on facial expressions. Keeping families together when possible is good too,” the actor said before starting to cry again, though it was much lighter than it was before. Shouto’s curt, direct way of reassuring someone seemed to go over well with the old guy who didn’t want to hear soothing platitudes, and Izuku made a mental note to have him stick with the older actors as he watched both Tooru and Shouto take them back to the waiting room.

Izuku, Ochako, and Fumikage kept searching the rubble, finding a young woman who was acting like she had a broken leg. Izuku carefully splinted it before instructing Fumikage to take her back to the evacuation center.”

“Everyone, I’m going to be assisting with first aid here. Providing ice is useful for sprains, and there are some real ones blended in with the acting. There are also people being brought in from colder zones that need to be warmed up, so I’ll likely be here a while.”

“Heard you loud and clear, Equilibrium!” Tooru confirmed. “I’m heading back to rejoin the others. Tsukuyomi, will you join me as a runner while Themis and Uravity keep extracting victims?”

“Of course. I’m on my way to the center with a victim now.”

“Then I’ll see you soon! Over and out.”

‘Getting a communication system that is linked to all of our costumes was the smartest decision I ever made.’

Fumikage and Tooru both got back to him and Ochako just as a massive explosion rocked the side of the arena, and Izuku whipped his head over, eyes widening when he saw Gang Orca and a bunch of lackeys standing behind them. ‘A second terrorist attack, of course! It’s a common tactic to use an initial strike to cause mass destruction and draw heroes into the area before following up with a second, even larger attack meant to take them out.’

“Uravity, Tsukuyomi, I’m going to need you two to focus on evacuation. Spectra, you’re still our runner, and you’ll be aided by Dark Shadow. Dark Shadow, we’re counting on you to reassure the people you take back, okay? Be gentle with them.”

“Yes, boss!”

“Themis, be careful!”

“I will!” Izuku called out over his shoulder as he combined One for All and Float to rush over to Gang Orca. “Equilibrium, prepare to guard evac! I’m running over to deal with the attackers now.”

“Heard you loud and clear, Themis.”

“That’s right! The villains have shown up, and they’re on the move. The hero candidates on the scene will suppress the villain incursion while continuing the rescue operation.”

‘Too slow. By the time people react to that, some of them will be at the evacuation center. They definitely had them pop out there on purpose. Luckily…’ Izuku slowed down once he was between the attackers and the victims, green lightning crackling over his form as he activated Blackwhip. Dozens of tendrils emerged from him, and they were all loose and ready to be used as binding attacks.

“Don’t worry!” he called back to everyone working in first aid and triage. “I won’t let any of them through! Focus on relocating!”

Izuku narrowed his eyes when he saw the beginning of a supersonic attack. “Abyssal Whips: Snare!” he screamed as a tendril of Blackwhip wrapped around Gang Orca while another plugged his blowhole to nullify the attack. Several other tendrils wrapped around some of the lackeys surrounding him, and Izuku sped around with Fa Jin to take knees to their heads, make sure they were knocked out, and zip off to a new target that Blackwhip had grabbed for him.

‘Gang Orca is a better fighter than these guys, though that’s to be expected of the current number ten. Keeping him from moving with two tendrils wrapped around him and another blocking his supersonic attacks is the most effective method of taking him down, and he can still breathe through his mouth so I don’t have to worry about causing permanent harm either. It’s the sheer number of grunts that I need to worry about for now. They could overwhelm the evacuators.’

He only stopped moving once every lackey was unconscious, and Izuku looked up at Gang Orca’s bound form, tilting his head as he asked, “What is your aim here?”

“To cause destruction and misery,” Gang Orca hissed.

Izuku deadpanned as he crossed his arms into an x and said, “Unrealistic. Try again.”

“... What?”

“Very few villains have such a simple motivation. If this is meant to be a simulation of an actual attack, then the odds are high that there is a reason the villains chose this place at this time. What’s your aim here?”

Gang Orca seemed to catch on fairly quickly, and since it was less embarrassing for him to impart another lesson on the people watching, he went along with it. “These people aren’t so innocent, you know?! They’ve been polluting the ocean, making it to where I can’t swim without getting sick! If we destroy this city, then the pollution will have to stop.”

“I’m sorry, that sounds awful,” Izuku murmured, keeping his voice low and soothing. “It’s not right that they’re hurting the environment like that.”

“Exactly, so let me--”

“But have you considered how your actions would make the ocean even more polluted?”

Gang Orca paused, narrowing his eyes as he asked, “How so?”

“Construction sites are notorious for leaving litter and waste in their wake, and with an entire city of buildings to repair, there will actually be more trash that gets carried into the ocean. People won’t stop living here just because you attacked the city.”

“Then we’ll destroy it again!”

“Which will only lead to even more pollution. You don’t want to be part of the problem, I can tell. You really care about the ocean. You want to keep it clean and safe for everyone. I can help you do that. Have you heard about Takoba beach?”

“Of course I have. That place was a dump not too long ago, but someone cleaned it up. Why?”

Izuku pulled out his phone, unlocking his screen and scrolling to photos from several months ago. He showed it to Gang Orca, and he noticed the genuine surprise on the hero’s face. “That was me! I got sick of seeing it left like that, so I decided that if no one else was gonna clean it, then I would. Which beach is it that you’re worried about? I can make sure that it gets taken care of.”

“... Mitsuishi Beach. Could you truly?”

Izuku nodded. “Of course I could. I will. So let’s take it easy, okay?”

“Yeah…” Gang Orca was quick to agree, but Izuku also knew that he was paid to do a job here. He was tense and ready to strike as soon as Izuku let him go. Izuku did not let go. He whipped around to knock him out too, using a combination of One for All, Strength Enhancer, and Fa Jin to make sure that even someone as sturdy as him would be out cold. 

He turned back to see the shocked faces of several examinees, and Inasa was at the forefront of them. Izuku held up a finger and said, “While it’s possible to de-escalate many situations with villains, there are also those who will try to take advantage of your willingness to work with them to catch you off guard. Don’t let them. Gang Orca was here to fulfill a specific role today, so I knew that there was no way I’d be able to actually talk him down. Talking to him did allow me to stall long enough for them to relocate the evacuation center, though, and it gave me time to calculate how much force I could safely use too. A lot of villains like to talk. Use it against them.”

“You’re not just a healer?!” Inasa cried out. “What was that?!”

Izuku ignored him. “Equilibrium, how are the victims looking? Are there any injuries that need healing?”

“Everything is fine here. There’s nothing major enough to call you in. We had enough time to transfer them without jostling them too much, so thank you for that.”

“Of course. I’ll stand guard here and make sure that none of the attackers wake up before the time’s up. Uravity, Spectra, Tsukuyomi, how are the rescues going?”

“The city has been secured! We’re heading over to the waterfront to help with operations there,” Ochako answered.

“Good, keep me updated. You’re all doing amazing work! Over and out.”

Izuku turned to Inasa after that, saying, “Sorry, I needed to check in with my team first. It sounds like the waterfront rescuers could use some assistance. Would you mind heading that way?”

“R-right!” He flew off, and Izuku hummed as he watched Inasa go.

‘A wind quirk? That’s versatile. As long as he’s careful near the water, he could definitely help there.’ 

A few minutes passed before Mera’s voice called out from the intercoms again. “Ahem. Every last HUC member on the field has been rescued from impending danger. Therefore, I declare that this test is over! The results will be announced once all scores are tallied. Those with injuries, please proceed to the medical area. Everyone else, get changed and wait for instructions.”

Izuku met up with the rest of the team immediately after they got back into their school uniforms, and while they looked tired, they all looked satisfied too. “I’m proud of you all. That went so smoothly that it almost feels surreal…”

“I’m not surprised,” Ochako chuckled. “You were the one leading us, after all.”

He blushed, but Mera’s voice cut him off before he could protest. “It’s been a long battle for you kids, but now it’s time for the results. Before that, though… Regarding the scoring system, the Hero Public Safety Commission and the members of the HUC were deducting points based on two issues as we watched you perform. Essentially, we judged you on your ability to act flawlessly in a crisis. It’s pretty rare for anyone to get a perfect score, but this year, five of you did. Anyway, the names of those who passed the test are in alphabetical order.”

Izuku looked up to the screen, looking down the list and beaming as soon as he saw his name. After that, he looked over the entire thing to see how the rest of his classmates did. ‘I’m glad that the Scales of Justice all passed, but it looks like most of 1-A got through. The only ones who didn’t are…’ He looked over at Bakugo, sighing when he saw the way he was fuming. ‘He really needs to grow up if he wants any chance of making it.’

“I assume you’ve all had the chance to look over the results. Next, we’ll be handing out the score sheets. We’ve explained the scoring system in detail there, so be sure to read over it carefully.”

Izuku’s eyes widened when he saw a perfect score on his sheet. The fact that it was a punitive system with no hope for recovery after the cutoff point was interesting, but not nearly as much so as it was that Mera said five people got perfect scores. ‘That means…’ He looked over at his teammates with wide eyes as he asked, “Did you guys get 100s too?”

They all nodded. Shouto looked at him and said, “Apparently they considered deducting points for me not going to fight, but when the other HUC members told them about our comms, they decided against it. Probably because of how efficiently you handled the situation…”

“The waterfront victims definitely appreciated you staying around. That water was freezing. They probably would’ve gotten sick if you weren’t there to warm them up,” Tooru mumbled. “You’re surprisingly suited to rescue.”

Shouto glanced over at Izuku before saying, “I like helping people. I think that I’ll try to learn more about the specialization if nothing else.”

Mera cleared his throat to quiet the chattering crowd. “Going forward, those who have passed have the legal right to act in a heroic capacity, but only during emergencies. That means fighting villains and rescuing people in disaster scenarios is something that you’re permitted to do on your own, even without a professional hero’s guidance, but keep in mind that every action you take comes with a heavy responsibility to society.”

Izuku straightened up, and though he hated everything to do with the Commission, he found himself agreeing with Mera’s words. ‘Then again, most people don’t consider destroying the current system to be their responsibility to society.’

“As you all know, the Symbol of Peace no longer holds up our society. All Might’s active presence served as an important deterrent to crime, so without him at the forefront, we can be certain that more brazen villains will begin showing their faces. The balance of things has shifted, and the world is bound to start changing in a big way, so with that in mind, remember that you, the next generation, are the central pillar of our society. As heroes, you will set a new standard. You must become the new bulwark keeping crime at bay!”

All of those who passed cheered, and Izuku noticed that alongside Bakugo, Mineta was silent. 

“Now then, those of you who didn’t make the cut shouldn’t be too disheartened. If you sign up for and complete a special, three-month training course and pass the test at the end, then you can still earn your provisional licenses. The 100 of you that got through to this point all proved that you have potential worth cultivating. That’s why we monitored you all to the end.”

A smirk was back on Bakugo’s face, and Izuku was getting sick and tired of him being given second chances. The only thing that calmed the fury rising within him was getting to hold his provisional hero license in his hands. 

‘This is a big step forward. It might be for a different reason than everyone else, but I’m still proud to have gotten this far.’

Chapter Text

“Hey, do you mind if we talk for a second?”

Fumikage blinked and looked over at Izuku, tilting his head as he said, “I would not. Do you have a specific place you wish to have this discussion?”

“You and Dark Shadow would be more comfortable in your room, right?” Dark Shadow peeked out and nodded alongside Fumikage. “Let’s do that, then. It’s just… team stuff. I haven’t got the chance to update you on something and don’t want to leave you out of the loop.”

And Izuku didn’t want to risk being seen or heard by the cameras. The students’ rooms were the only place where there wasn’t someone watching them 24/7, and even then he’d have to be careful just in case Jirou or Shouji was around.

“You needn’t fret about it, Izuku. Let us talk.”

Fumikage was a lot less shy about letting Izuku into his room this time, and he wasn’t sure if that was because it was only him or if it was because he trusted him that much. ‘I just hope I don’t lose that trust after this.’

“I do not believe I’ve seen you so discomfited before. Is there anything I can do to soothe your nerves?”

“... There is one thing, but it feels kind of cruel to ask it of you.”

“You’ve done a lot for both of us, Izuku! If we can help, then we want to!” Dark Shadow insisted.

Izuku sighed. ‘I guess that there are worse things than asking if they’d be willing to swear to silence on something before I bring up the whole villain thing. If they say no, then I can always fall back on asking if their home life is okay.’

“If I told you that I figured out a way to bind people to verbal contracts with my quirk, then would you be willing to be put under one? It wouldn’t be anything much. Just a vow for neither of you to speak of anything that we discuss here today unless you get permission from me to do so.”

Fumikage and Dark Shadow looked at each other before nodding. “This clearly means a lot to you. We would be willing to do so.”

Izuku breathed a sigh of relief, glowing gold as he said, “Then I’ll lay out the terms. We’re agreeing to a vow of silence on anything that is mentioned in this room here today, verbally or otherwise. Fumikage, neither you nor Dark Shadow would be capable of telling anyone what happened here, whether that be verbally, through sign, through writing, or through any sort of code. If you wish to tell anyone, then you must ask for permission from me to do so. In exchange, I will offer that same courtesy myself. If there’s anything that either of you wish to discuss but don’t want to risk getting out, then you may capitalize on that. Do you have any amendments?”

“No.”

“Nope!”

“Then will you say that you agree to the terms? It’s needed for the ability to take effect.”

“I agree to the terms.”

“Yeah, we agree to the terms!”

All three of them flashed green for a few moments. Izuku smiled at them both as the light faded, saying, “Thank you. Do you mind holding out your hand? Some things are best left unspoken.”

Fumikage did so, and he jolted immediately when Izuku used Telepathic Connection. ‘I’m sorry. I should’ve assumed that you’d be more sensitive to connections like this.’

‘No, it’s quite alright. I was just startled. You truly are a mad banquet of darkness, aren’t you? There appears to be no end to what you are capable of.’

‘Woah! It’s so cool to talk to someone other than Fumi here. Hi Izuku!’

‘Hello Dark Shadow. I apologize for all the smoke and mirrors here.’

Dark Shadow giggled. ‘You sound like Fumi. What did you wanna talk about?’

‘Do you two ever… wonder if the way things are should change?’

‘Of course we do. Dark Shadow is not allowed to enjoy their daily life anywhere but here, and even then they are restricted. It is not fair to treat them as anything less than the person they are, but our laws treat them as no more than an extension of myself.’

‘Yeah, it really sucks. Even Mom and Dad don’t really see me as me. It gets… really lonely with just me and Fumi. That’s why I like talking to you, Ochako, Shouto, and Tooru so much! You treat me like I’m a person. Monoma seems like he’ll be the same way, but we don’t really know him yet.’

‘And if I told you two that I plan to change things like that? That I want to make this world fairer for everyone? I don’t want people to have their worth tied to their quirks. I don’t want quirks to be so restricted that people can’t even defend themselves if they’re attacked. I don’t want heroes to get away with abusing their power just because they’ve got powerful, flashy quirks.’

‘Is balancing the state of things not the point of the Scales of Justice? I see no point in all this secrecy.’

‘Because heroes won’t let us make changes like that. Appeals to these laws have been brought up before. Between the Commission and several heroes in their pockets, any of those appeals never make it to court. They don’t want things to change.’

Fumikage’s feathers puffed out as he realized what Izuku was getting at. ‘Are you suggesting that we…?’

‘I’m not suggesting that we stop helping people. I want that more than anything else in the world. I’m just saying that some of the things we want to do would have our society brand us as villains, and I’m not any less determined to do those things. I wanted to warn you. It is a dangerous path that we walk.’

‘I have always known that you were a blend of darkness and light. If we must operate at dusk instead of dawn, then so be it.’

‘What Fumi is saying is that we’re behind you! We don’t want things to stay the same either.’

‘And if I told you that we’re not doing this alone?’

‘I assume that you mean beyond the Scales of Justice? You did say that this was a team affair, but it feels like more than that.’ Izuku nodded. ‘Then who would we be allied with? The only group that I can think of is… Izuku, you did not.’

‘There was a lot of talking while I was kidnapped. I agree with a lot of the League’s bigger goals, you know? It’s just how they’re going about those goals that bother me. By joining up with them and steering them toward better targets, then we can all get what we want. A better world. One where we’re all allowed to live and be happy as ourselves. Deep down, I’m pretty sure that’s all they want too.’

‘You wish to save them as well.’ Fumikage sighed and Dark Shadow giggled from their place above his shoulder. ‘Very well then. We shall do our best. We have always been willing to immerse ourselves in the darkness if it meant allowing others to live in the light. This is no different from that, in the end. Whether a rebellion is considered just or unjust… that is often dictated by the victor. We will simply have to ensure that we do not lose.’

Izuku beamed at them both. “Then welcome on board, Fumikage, Dark Shadow! We’re glad to have you.”

-

The start of the next semester meant another opening ceremony, and while Aizawa wasn’t going to this one either, 1-A wasn’t being kept from it this time.

“Neito! How did the exams go for you guys?”

“Every single member of 1-B passed! Heard that Bakugo and Mineta failed, but no one can fault you for what they do. I’m way more interested in talking about those perfect scores.” Neito ruffled Izuku’s hair with a teasing grin. “I’m proud of you. Haven’t heard about anyone getting a perfect score since Hawks did, and there’s never been so many at once.”

The blonde girl with horns smiled at them all and said, “Our teacher, Vlad, says we will have classes together this term! It will be fun.”

‘Joint-training? I hope that we get the chance to work with Neito. I want to incorporate him into our fighting style and Ultimate Moves.’

“Hey, the line’s starting to back up.”

“Shinsou!” Izuku turned to his friend with a wide smile. “How was your break? You look like you’ve been training hard.”

“I have been. I’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”

Izuku’s eyes shone as he asked, “Did they agree to the transfer?! You did so well in the Sports Festival. They had to have, right?”

“They’re giving me a chance. That’s all I could ask for. I can’t talk about it in detail though.”

“Right! We ought to get going, everyone. Let’s clear up the hallway,” Iida cried out, and everyone went outside to join the assembly.

Izuku checked out during the beginning of Nezu’s long-winded speech that said so much and nothing at all at the same time, only tuning back in when he heard their principal say, “And the largest, most recent disruption to our lifestyles, as you all know, was the incident that took place last summer.”

He glanced over at where All Might was standing next to Thirteen. Blue eyes met his, and Izuku quickly averted his gaze.

“The loss of our pillar. We’re seeing the effects of that emerging at a rate beyond expectations. Our society needs to prepare for unparalleled hardship in the near future. This applies especially to those of you in the hero course, including you second-years and third-years that are on work-studies. Going forward, you must be more aware than ever of the threats out there.”

‘Work-studies? I guess that’s an upgraded form of internships. Now that we have provisional licenses, we may wind up doing them too. If we do, then who should I work with? I know that Shouto and Fumikage will want to stay with Hawks, but he had a point when he brought up informatics-based heroics. Something tells me that he knows more about that than he’s willing to say, but who could I get a work-study under that specializes in that field?’

He could only think of one person off the top of his head. ‘I’ll try to see if I can think of anyone else before resorting to that. It’ll be useful to learn how an informatics agency runs, but I don’t really want to ask a favor of All Might right now. Or ever, for that matter.’

“Such gloomy talk makes us all heavyhearted, I know. That’s why we adults are trying so hard to keep things from getting too dreary. We hope to inspire an industrious ethic in you young men and women so that you may go on to become capable members of society. The management course, the general education course, the support course, and the hero course… Do not forget that it’s all of you who will inherit this society.” Nezu bowed to them all before stepping off the stage.

They all went back to class after that. Izuku was grateful to have an ordinary lecture planned for the day, but before they could start, Tsuyu raised her hand.

“May I ask a question, Aizawa-sensei?” Aizawa gave her the go-ahead. “We just heard about the work-studies at the opening ceremony. Could you explain that a bit more?”

“I was planning to go over that at a later date, but oh well. I guess it makes sense to explain it now. Put simply, it’s hero work done outside of the school. A more immersive version of the internships you already did with pro heroes.”

“Wait a minute!” Ashido cried out. “Then what was the point of trying so hard for the Sports Festival?!”

Iida’s eyes widened. “Indeed! With these work-studies available, it seems like getting scouted at the Sports Festival was far from our only option.”

“You’ll be using your networking connections from the Sports Festival to secure your work-studies. It’s all at your discretion to start with and is unrelated to your classes here. Those of you who didn’t get scouted at the Sports Festival will have a difficult time finding positions anyway. Every agency in the country used to seek out applicants, but the competition to get UA students caused a lot of problems. That’s why it’s set up like it is now.”

“Oh…” Ashido sighed. “I guess that makes sense.”

Bakugo grumbled under his breath, but Izuku was close enough to hear him say, “I’ll crush this shit after three months.”

“Earning your provisional licenses will give you in-depth experience when it comes to this sort of thing, but keep in mind that there’s virtually no precedent for first-years with licenses. With the sudden outburst of villain activity, the possibility of first-years having the opportunity to do work-studies is being given careful consideration.”

‘In other words, the heroes are short-staffed despite how many of them there are. The tides are turning.’

“We’ll revisit this later. You’ll get a more complete explanation and some student testimonials at that point. With that said, it’s about time for first period. Sorry to keep you waiting, Mic.”

-

Izuku threw himself into his studies over the next few days of class, determined to absorb as much information as he could from the start of the semester. ‘I didn’t really think about the fact that becoming a villain probably means that I won’t graduate high school, but that’s just a sacrifice that I’ll have to make. I need to take advantage of the education that UA has to offer while I still can.’

“Right, now that everyone has settled in a bit, we’re ready to talk about work-studies for real.” Aizawa looked over to the door and said, “Come in.”

The entire class straightened up at Aizawa’s words. “They’re taking time out of their busy schedules to be here, so give them your full attention. Out of all the students at UA, these are the top three among the third-years. We call them the Big Three.”

A blond that Izuku recognized as the permeability guy from past Sports Festivals walked into the door first, followed by a blue-haired girl that had some sort of energy quirk and a shy guy who had a transformation quirk of some sort if Izuku was remembering correctly.

“Let’s get right to it. How about some introductions? We’ll start with you, Amajiki.”

The shy-looking guy, Amajiki, glared out over them all, causing several of Izuku’s classmates to break out in chills. ‘I know angry glares. That doesn’t look like an angry glare. Is he that nervous? Guess he’s not much for the limelight.’

Sure enough, Amajiki shuddered before turning to face the blackboard and saying, “I want to go home!” He was trembling like a leaf as he avoided any form of eye contact, and Izuku felt for the guy.

“But you’re… the hero course’s best of the best, right?” Ojiro asked hesitantly.

The girl laughed and said, “People call that having the heart of a flea. He’s Tamaki Amajiki and I’m Nejire Hadou! We came here to talk to you about work studies.”

Hadou flitted over to Shouji before Izuku could blink. “But hey, hey, hey! What’s with the mask? Do you have a cold, or is it just for fashion?”

“A long time ago, I…”

Hadou tilted her head before Shouji could explain further, eyes twinkling as she asked, “Is that Todoroki I see back there?! Hello! How’d you get that burn, anyway?!”

Shouto grimaced. “I don’t see how that’s any of your--”

“Hey, Ashido, if you broke those horns, would they grow back? Can they move? Tell me! And Mineta, how do you get a haircut with a quirk like that? Do you not need them? Are you like a tree frog, Asui, or are you more like a toad? There are so many curious things about all of you! How do you use your energy in so many ways, Midoriya? Can you support your full body weight with your tail, Ojiro? I wanna know!”

Izuku felt a certain kinship with someone who was that openly curious about things that people just accepted as part of themselves, especially when it came to quirks, but she was jumping from person to person so quickly that it was a bit overwhelming.

“She’s not the most rational person, is she?” Aizawa grumbled.

“Don’t worry, Eraserhead! I’m the main act here. The outlook’s looking…” The blond guy held a hand to his ear as he leaned out to the class. Everyone blinked in confusion. “Grim! The answer is grim. That didn’t go over well.”

‘They’re all… a lot. I don’t even know everything they’re capable of, not when they didn’t do well enough in last year’s Sports Festival to earn places in the top three. I got too distracted by everything going on to watch the second-years and third-years this year.’

“I’m seeing a lot of faces that seem to say ‘Who cares?’ out there. You’ve got three of us third-years showing up out of nowhere that are here to talk about work studies that you don’t even have to do. Doesn’t make sense, right?” The guy chuckled. “Almost all of you got your licenses as first-years. You’re all a bunch of go-getters, huh? And since our talk here isn’t going so well… How about you all take me, Mirio Togata, on?!”

‘He’s confident. Will I be able to count on Danger Sense to help me out here?’ An affirming buzz was his answer. ‘Good. I’ll have to figure out how he moves and fights and adapt to that.’

“It seems rational to have them feel the full weight of our experiences firsthand, don’t you think so, Eraserhead?!”

Aizawa sighed. “Do as you like. Everyone, go change into your gym uniforms and head to Gym Gamma.”

Izuku warily watched Togata stretch out once they arrived at Gym Gamma, eyeing up the pillars that were still left behind from their Ultimate Move training.

“He’s definitely got something up his sleeve, right?” Ochako whispered.

Izuku nodded before quietly muttering, “Yeah. No way he’s this confident about fighting all of us without something to back it up. If I remember right, then he can phase through things. We should stick to the air. Focus less on physical attacks and more on disorienting him until Ochako can touch him. I’ve got an idea."

Everyone nodded at that, and though it would be difficult, Izuku had faith that they could pull this off. Amajiki didn’t seem to have that kind of faith in them.

“Mirio… don’t do this. It’d be enough to follow the manual and tell them about what we experienced and why it was meaningful. It’s not like all of them are raring to go and aiming for the top. We wouldn’t want any of them to be broken beyond fixing.”

Hadou looked over at Mirio from her place by Ashido --whose horns apparently did move-- and said, “Hey, listen to this. There was once a kid who got discouraged, quit trying to be a hero, and caused all sorts of trouble, you know? It was really bad. You’d better think hard about this, Togata, or there’s gonna be pain. True-blue pain.”

“Do you not think that you’re underestimating us?” Fumikage questioned. “We’ve faced pros before, albeit with handicaps.”

Kirishima smashed his hardened fists together as he yelled, “Yeah! We’ve got experience battling villains too! Do you think that we’re such wimps that you need to worry about our safety?”

“Whenever you’re ready, then. Come at me. Who’s gonna be first?!”

“Me,” Bakugo snarled. “I don’t need help from any of you to take him down, so stand back and watch how it’s done.”

Togata chuckled. “Ah, you. You probably feel like you’ve got a lot to prove, huh? Alright then.”

Bakugo launched himself forward, explosions crackling from his hands as he soared through the air, but Togata simply stayed still and let Bakugo fly through him. ‘He was squinting a bit because of the light at first, but he stopped doing that once Bakugo got really close. If he makes his head permeable, then does that mean he can’t see, breathe, or hear either? That’ll make it difficult to distract him, but it can be used against him too.’

Togata’s fist met Bakugo’s gut, and in an instant, another hand hit the back of Bakugo’s neck and knocked him out cold. Several of Izuku’s classmates boggled at the quick takedown. The Scales of Justice weren’t among them. Ochako darted around to negate Shouto and Tooru’s gravity before walking over to Izuku and getting him to use Telekinesis on her, and Dark Shadow wrapped around Fumikage to take to the skies. Izuku used Float to join them, smirking down at Togata as he watched them take to the skies with wide eyes.

“Phasing through things doesn’t do you much good if you can’t reach us either,” Izuku called down, snickering as he watched Togata ignore them for now and take down their other classmates. No one could react in time to avoid it, but Izuku was beginning to see a pattern in how Togata fell into the ground and the place that he came out of it from.

‘Is he making himself permeable again once he’s underground? He has to be. How does he not suffocate while doing that?’

“It’s not very hero-like to sit up there and watch your classmates get beat up, you know? You’ll have to come down eventually, and what’ll you do then?”

Izuku chuckled as he shook his head. “First off, you’re underestimating how long we could stay up here. Secondly…” He flew around, tapping Shouto and Tooru with blue, glowing hands as well. Ochako nodded at him and released her quirk, looking only mildly queasy. Togata seemed surprised that they were all still in the air. “Gathering intel is something that every hero has to be capable of. Now!”

He used Telekinesis to send Tooru and Shouto rocketing toward Togata. Tooru feinted going for a gut blow while charging up Warp Refraction, and Shouto switched from swirling ice to a plume of fire at the last second. Light exploded out from the area, and Izuku tsked before pulling them both back up the sky when Danger Sense warned him that Togata was about to spring back up from the ground.

“Clever, clever! You’ll have to do better than that, though!”

Dark Shadow’s claws lashed out at Togata, bending in odd directions to make it harder to guess what direction they would attack from. The two of them were at a stalemate, though, since Togata couldn’t land a hit strong enough to deter Dark Shadow and Dark Shadow couldn’t land a hit on him at all. 

Izuku lowered himself to the ground and rushed forward, using a combination of Blackwhip and Fa Jin to be a general nuisance while also keeping away from Togata’s reach. Between Dark Shadow and Izuku, Togata was beginning to look a little frustrated. He wasn’t prepared for Izuku to send Tooru and Shouto swooping down and around him at the same time, and they were all so used to fighting around one another and practicing aerial maneuvers that Dark Shadow worked around them as well.

Green eyes flickered over to where he had set Ochako down. She was creeping toward the fight slowly, and once she got close enough to move into the next phase of the plan, Izuku intentionally made a move that would leave his stomach unguarded. Togata lunged for it, desperate to end the stalemate, and Izuku grinned when Shock Absorption kept him from reacting to the blow at all. He couldn’t even feel it.

Togata’s brief moment of shock was all it took for Ochako to launch herself forward and slap five fingers against his still solid arm. He floated up into the sky, and the Scales of Justice all relaxed now that Togata couldn’t use his quirk.

“Well then,” Togata said while blinking rapidly. “That’ll show me to be overconfident.”

“Let him down, you hellions. You’ve proved your point.”

Ochako giggled before doing what Aizawa said, and Togata laughed it off while rubbing the back of his neck. “You five coordinate really well! Normally getting thrown into a big group like that is a disadvantage, but…”

“They waited until it was just members of their hero team left and fought you then exactly because of that. I probably should’ve warned you about those five, but, well…” Aizawa chuckled. “Even I wasn’t sure if they’d manage to pull it off.”

“Right, well! I’ll just move right on to the point of this, then. My quirk is a complicated one. In the field, I don’t have the time to hesitate or slowly go through a wall to avoid gravity dragging me through the ground. I have to predict what will happen faster than my surroundings can change! Foresight was vital if I wanted to trick time itself, and experience was the only way for me to get good at predicting what would happen next.”

Togata grinned and clenched his fist as he said, “During our work studies, we weren’t just guests! We were sidekicks that were treated like genuine pros! And let me just tell you, it was terrifying. We had to deal with life-or-death situations. But scary or not, painful or not, work studies let you get real-world experience that you just can’t get from school alone. Even if you’re scared, I wholeheartedly recommend that you first-years attend one!”

Izuku waffled over whether it would be rude to ask Hawks for the contact information of another hero to work with for hours. In the end, that decision was taken out of his hands when Himiko texted him.

Big sis got hurt real bad

You can’t heal it bad

She’ll live, but… she lost an arm

That bird mask guy was an asshole

Could you come to Tokyo?

We might need some help soon

Of course

I’ll find a way

‘I guess that decides it, huh? I’m gonna have to talk to All Might. One of the most central agencies in Tokyo besides his old one is Nighteye’s, and he’s an informatics hero too. It’s gonna be dangerous though. If he glimpses even a little bit too far into my future…’

Izuku was up late planning exit strategies and ways to keep Nighteye from touching him without seeming suspicious. He just had to hope that it would be enough.

-

“You want me to ask Sir Nighteye if he’ll let you do a work-study with him?”

Izuku nodded. “Hawks suggested that I look into informatics-based heroics, and Sir Nighteye is one of the best in that field! He’s more well-known than most heroes with that specialization, but he still does his job well by keeping the exact mechanics of his quirk a secret. I think that I could learn a lot from him!”

“I see… I’m afraid that I have to refuse. Couldn’t you go back to Hawks?”

“But he’s already agreed to take on Shouto and Fumikage again! Besides, the main reason I interned with him was to work on my flying, and I’ve got a handle on that now.”

All Might sighed, shaking his head before he said, “I’m not trying to be mean here. I was one of the teachers opposed to letting first-years do work-studies at all. Besides, Nighteye and I haven’t talked for years. It’d be too awkward for me.”

Izuku’s eyebrow twitched violently. He cut off Present Mic teasing All Might about it being personal by saying, “You wanna know what was awkward? Explaining to my mother that you destroyed one of my lungs in an exam.”

The room went dead quiet, and All Might’s eyes widened at the venom in Izuku’s tone. “You can’t expect the world from us and brutalize us one second then try to coddle us and tell us that we’re not ready the next.”

“He has a point, you know?” Midnight chuckled nervously. “There’s always a certain amount of risk involved, and the kids who want to try should get that chance. It’s not likely that he’ll have to fight someone as strong as you again, and he still won, even if you were handicapped.”

“He was equally handicapped, considering that he had to do it alone,” Ectoplasm muttered.

“... Alright. I still don’t think I’m the best person to introduce you, but I’ve got an idea for how to work around that. Meet up with me in the teacher’s lounge after classes tomorrow.”

Izuku was antsy up until the moment he walked into the teacher’s lounge. When he peeked his head in and saw that Togata was sitting on the couch while All Might made some tea, he shuffled in to sit down as well. “No hard feelings about the demonstration thing, right? I haven’t had a challenge like that in a long time. It was fun! You’ve gotta tell me more about your quirk some time.”

Togata burst into laughter. “Not at all! It was educational for me too!” He gave Izuku a thumbs up as All Might walked back to the table, setting tea down for all of them. Togata turned back to All Might and cheered, “You are here!! That’s how it goes, right?! Sorry, it’s just exciting to be summoned by All Might himself!”

“Were you planning to have Togata introduce me?”

“Introduce you?” Togata questioned, tilting his head.

“Young Midoriya is interested in doing a work-study under Sir Nighteye, and since you’re currently doing yours there…”

‘Yes, okay, so I might have a foot in the door.’ Izuku enthusiastically asked, “How long have you worked with him?”

Togata nodded with a big grin. “It’s already been a whole year!”

“That basically guarantees you a spot as his sidekick after graduation!” Izuku was impressed. Given Togata’s focus on predicting his opponents’ moves, he should have expected that he’d been working with him for a while, but a year was a long time to work under the same hero.

“If Sir doesn’t change his mind, then yeah!”

“What do you think, Togata? Does Midoriya have what it takes to work with Nighteye?”

Togata studied Izuku closely before saying, “What sort of hero do you want to become, Midoriya?”

Izuku was almost afraid to answer that question in front of All Might, but he also wanted to be as honest as he could be. “I want to be a hero that creates change. I want people to see me and be reassured that things are going to get better. I want to create a world where one’s worth isn’t tied to their quirk, where everyone gets a chance to be happy. People in this world aren’t born equal. I decided to become the Balance Hero: Themis so that I could even the scales.”

“That’s an impressive mission statement. I’ve got no reason to refuse you. Let’s do this!”

“Do you really mean it?!”

“I do! I’ve been thinking about how Sir would probably like you.”

Izuku went back to the dorms relieved and excited for this Sunday, hoping that he’d be able to make a good impression. ‘I should probably get some things in order. I can’t be sure if the situation with the League will go south, so if I’m going to heal Ingenium…’ 

Iida was one of the few students who could go home since heroes would always be present, and he did so every Saturday, without fail. Izuku just needed to talk to him before his next visit.

-

He was cutting it close, but Izuku got his chance after classes on Friday. “Hey, Iida! I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“What did you need, Midoriya? I hope that you’re not asking for help studying for our math test tomorrow. I cannot believe that Kaminari and Kirishima haven’t started studying yet!”

Izuku laughed and shook his head. “I've been keeping up with everything, don’t worry! This is a bit more personal. Do you mind if we head to the forest? Walking through it helps me clear my head.”

“This must truly be weighing on you… Of course we can!”

Fumikage gave him an odd look from what he overheard of their conversation, and Izuku glanced back at him before subtly shaking his head. ‘I guess it does look a little like the “Do you wanna be a villain with me?” conversation with a setup like that. No, this is nothing so nefarious.’ 

Iida and Izuku started jogging once they were out on campus grounds, slowly getting faster until it turned into an outright race --minus quirks-- to see who could get to UA’s forest first. Iida won, but it was by a narrow margin.

“So… what did you want to talk about?”

Izuku gestured for Iida to follow him deeper into the forest, and though his friend looked confused, he did so. They stopped walking once they found themselves in a clearing that Izuku had discovered the other day, one that already had a few dead trees scattered on the edges of it. ‘No one will notice if I take the energy from these.’ 

He pressed a glowing, red hand up against a Japanese maple. The color quickly leached from the leaves before they fell in droves, and Izuku pulled his hand back once he could feel that he’d taken everything he could from it.

“Midoriya! What was that?! Why would you just--”

“What if I told you that I could heal your brother?”

Iida froze. His arm was in midair, halfway through an indignant chop, and he whispered a strangled, “What?”

“I healed Best Jeanist’s lung during Kamino. My healing works by transferring the energy that I have to someone else, repairing anything as long as it’s still there. Logically, paralyzed nerves should be included in that. Bigger injuries take more energy for me to heal, of course. More energy than I have. But if I take energy from a few trees…” Izuku looked Iida in the eye as he said, “I can’t make any guarantees, but I should at least be able to make your brother’s life easier. He might even get to be a hero again, assuming that he wants to be. Would you… Can I come with you on your visit? I want to make that offer.”

“Midoriya…” Iida’s eyes welled up with tears as he bowed. “I would be eternally grateful! The Iida family would forever be in your debt.”

“That’s not why I’m doing this. I’m doing this because you’re my friend, Iida.”

“Tenya. You’ve more than earned the right to that name.”

“Izuku then,” he said with a smile. “Now, let me pick a few more trees…”

Come Saturday, the two of them both made their way to the Iida family compound. Aizawa seemed confused by Tenya’s vehemence that Izuku was coming with him, but he shrugged it off and allowed it.

Izuku awkwardly shuffled into the huge, fancy house after Tenya let him in. He expected the interior to feel just as imposing as it did outside, but the array of warm colors and plants near the entryway soothed his nerves. ‘At least it actually looks like a home. I don’t know how I would’ve managed if it was more like a display piece.’

“Tenya, is that you?”

“Yes, Mother! Is Tensei home? I have someone I wish for him to meet!”

Tenya’s mother peeked around the corner, eyes narrowing as she looked at Tenya and said, “You could have told me that you were bringing a guest! I don’t have any tea on.”

“It’s fine!” Izuku squeaked. “I’m the one who’s intruding.”

“Izuku! You could not possibly be intruding when you offered such a large favor,” Tenya scolded. He turned to his mother, eyes sparkling as he chopped his arms several times and said, “Izuku believes that he may be able to heal Tensei!”

Wide blue eyes locked onto him. “Really? We’ve yet to find a doctor or quirk that can help him. Please don’t give us false hope.”

“I won’t know for sure until I try, but I’m optimistic about my chances. It’s more likely for this to fall into my range of healing than it is for it to fall outside of it.”

“Then please, go sit down in the living room! I’ll go get Tensei right away.” She ran off with a speed that made it clear she was an Iida, yelling out, “Tensei! Tensei, someone’s here to see you!”

Once they were seated on the couch, Tenya looked at him with earnest, teary eyes and said, “Thank you, Izuku.”

“Don’t thank me until I actually try. I’m going to feel awful if it doesn’t work.”

“None of that, kid. It doesn’t hurt to try, and even if it doesn’t work out, I’m sure that I’ll figure out a way to attach boosters to this wheelchair eventually.”

Izuku glanced over at Ingenium, and he was surprised to see just how much he and Tenya looked alike now that he could compare them. “Now, I could definitely introduce you to someone who could do that for you if this doesn’t work out,” Izuku snorted.

“Don’t give him any ideas, Izuku. My brother and Hatsume working together on something is a horrifying prospect.” Tenya shuddered after saying it, and Ingenium barked a laugh before looking at Izuku with a more serious expression.”

“What do you need me to do, kid?”

Izuku stood up, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck before saying, “Can I have permission to touch one of your legs? My healing works best if my point of contact is near the injured area. It takes less energy, and something like this is already going to be a huge drain… Not that it matters! I stocked up on extra energy before this for a reason.”

“That’s no problem. Just make sure to take care of yourself too, okay? I don’t care how far you can get in one session. If it does work and you need to come back later, then that’s fine too.”

Izuku nodded all the while knowing that he wouldn’t stop unless continuing to heal Ingenium would kill him. ‘I’m not going to risk being unable to finish this. I should be fine anyway. I’ve still got some leftover energy from the nomu, and I did take out five trees just to be safe.’ His hand glowed golden as he rested it on one of Ingenium’s calves.

It was a slow, pain-staking process, but Izuku could feel that it was working. His energy was going somewhere and he could feel it mending things, so he just had to keep going until the drain stopped. An hour later, Izuku pulled back, panting and utterly drained of energy but satisfied.

He grinned up at Ingenium and said, “I went ahead and handled the muscle atrophy while I was at it. Might take time to get used to walking again, but it shouldn’t require as much physical therapy to get back on your feet.”

Ingenium’s eyes widened as he kicked his leg out slightly. A massive smile grew across his face as he said, “I can feel them! I can feel my legs again!”

A family celebrated, and Izuku smiled from the sidelines, overjoyed to see the dark cloud that had settled over his friend had finally lifted.

Ingenium slowly, shakily stood up. One of the first things he did was limp over to Izuku, rest his hand on his shoulder, and say, “Thank you, Midoriya. You’ve changed my life.”

“I’m happy to help!”

Izuku was softhearted, but that did not mean that he was weak. On the contrary, his softheartedness was one of his greatest strengths. He would not let his descent into the underworld steal it from him.

‘I’ve probably made things more difficult for future me, but that doesn’t matter. I won’t lose sight of who I am. The moment I start doing things because they’re easy instead of doing them because they’re the right thing to do is the moment I become no better than the people I’m fighting against.’

Chapter Text

“This is Sir’s agency!”

Izuku looked up at a tall, nondescript building that blended in with the other offices around them. ‘I wouldn’t even know it was an agency without Togata guiding me here. It’s a good way to protect sensitive information.’

He was nervous. The way that Nighteye’s quirk worked was kept a secret, and Izuku knew that he could be in big trouble if the hero used it on him. ‘Given that it can be used on a specific target, it’s probably touch or sight-based. If it’s the latter, then would it be anyone he sees or someone he makes eye contact with?’

“I forgot to mention earlier, but Sir is a pretty strict guy.”

“So I’ve heard. He’s a stoic hero famous for being strict with himself and everyone else. His stare always gives me chills, even in video clips.”

“There’s that, yeah, but there’s another side of Sir that the media doesn’t show. If you don’t wanna get turned away, then you’ve gotta make him smile! He’s got a lot of respect for humor.”

Izuku followed Togata in, trying not to show how tense he was. ‘Humor… Would time jokes be too on the nose? I feel like something too cheesy will just offend him, so maybe something a bit more cutting? Something witty.’

“I can only get you in the door. It’s up to Sir whether he takes you on or not. I wish that I could help more, but you’ve gotta be the one to win him over.”

“Don’t worry about it! That’s just how these things go. I’ll do my best!” 

Togata smiled at his determination, nodding as he pointed to the door at the end of the hall. “He’s beyond that door. If you wanna get stronger, then you’ve gotta open it yourself!”

Izuku did just that, blinking when he saw what was on the other side. “I’ve brought the first-year that I mentioned yesterday!” Togata exclaimed, seeming unphased by the woman strapped up to some sort of tickling machine.

“Stop it! Please forgive me hehehe…”

“Is she okay?” Izuku wasn’t sure what he had just walked in on, but he felt distinctly uncomfortable about it.

“Seems like Bubble Girl wasn’t being funny enough today!” Togata said blithely.

Nighteye turned to glare at the entryway, and Izuku froze in fear. When no attacks were forthcoming, he relaxed a little bit. ‘Either he can’t use it based on seeing me alone, he sees no need to, or he’s not looking far enough for it to be a concern. Whatever the case, that’s a weight off my shoulders.’

He took a deep breath, tilted his head, and asked, “Did you know that light travels faster than sound?”

Nighteye’s glare hardened. “Of course I--”

“That’s why some people, like me, appear bright until you hear them speak.”

Though he tried to hide it, Izuku saw Nighteye’s lips twitch up in a smile. Togata snorted. ‘Yes! A blend of self-deprecating and witty was the way to go.’

Nighteye hummed as he studied Izuku more closely. “Hm. A bit rusty, but there’s potential there. Bubble Girl, Mirio, leave us.”

Then it was just the two of them. Nighteye sat down behind his desk, pressing his fingers together as he looked at Izuku with narrowed eyes. “So, in order to grow stronger, you wish to pursue a work-study with me.”

“Um, not exactly?” Izuku mumbled nervously. “I have no doubt that I would grow stronger under you, but I mostly wanted to learn more about informatics-based heroism.”

“Is that so? You don’t seem the type for it,” Nighteye said dismissively. Izuku’s eyebrows twitched as he forced himself to stay quiet.

‘Suck it up. The League needs me, and I could get a lot of valuable information working here.’

“The form from school?” Izuku pulled it out of his backpack, holding it up for Nighteye to see. “Once I stamp that form with my personal seal, the contract is complete. This will not be like work-studies offered in other fields, which may range from a day to a week long. You would be working here for one month, minimum, with compensation. As a first-year with many classes, you will need to take numerous excused absences. You will inevitably fall behind your classmates.”

Izuku nodded as he laid the form on Nighteye’s desk. “I’m prepared for that.” As much as he wished that he didn’t have to miss anything from UA, this was what he needed to do. ‘Besides, I don’t think Tenya plans on doing a work-study. I could always ask him for notes. Working here for so long will give me more freedom too.’

Nighteye looked him in the eye as he swung his stamp down, missing the form by a margin too large to be accidental. “I never had any intention of stamping this.”

“Then why would you waste your time and mine?”

“What you gain from working here is abundantly clear. But what do I have to gain by hiring you? My agency employs two sidekicks and a student already, and it operates without a hitch. What profit does your employment offer bring me?”

Nighteye opened his mouth to continue, but Izuku cut him off. “A healer, for one. Those are always in short supply. I’m also a skilled quirk analyst.”

“Due to Mirio’s position here, Recovery Girl is always on standby for agency emergencies. I also doubt that your analyses will be anything I haven’t seen before.”

“And if the injury is too severe for Recovery Girl to heal?”

“Then I doubt you’ll be able to either.”

Izuku chuckled wryly as he said, “Maybe you should call Ingenium, Nighteye. Last I checked, Recovery Girl wasn’t the one who helped him walk again.”

Yellow eyes widened. “... I will. But that doesn’t change the next step here.” Nighteye stood up, holding the stamp in his hands as he said, “Three minutes. You have three minutes to take my seal from me and stamp this form yourself.”

‘Is that how we’re playing this? Then so be it.’

“I will not fight back at all. Come at me with whatever sorts of attacks you wish. Any amount of damage to this room is acceptable so long as you steal this seal.”

‘In other words, if I don’t steal it, then he’s going to sue the hell out of me for damages. Got it.’ Izuku activated Blackwhip first, allowing it to join the hum of Fa Jin, Danger Sense, Shock Absorption, and Energy Efficiency --which were always active-- as he gave Nighteye a savage grin. One for All sparked to life after that, and Izuku used Strength Enhancer so that his upper limit would rise to 30%. ‘Even if someone can see something coming, it doesn’t matter if they’re not fast enough to react to it.’

Izuku blurred forward with Fa Jin, crossing the entire room in a split second. Blackwhip snagged Nighteye from behind as Izuku lunged for the stamp, stopping just short of his immobilized arm and lightly tapping the stamp with a glowing, blue hand. Izuku yanked it out of Nighteye’s hand with Telekinesis and stamped the form that way to add insult to injury.

He tilted his head with false innocence as he asked, “Was that good enough?” A minute hadn’t even passed.

“Quite,” Nighteye huffed. “Your skill is impressive. Your attitude leaves much to be desired though. One for All truly should have gone to Mirio.”

Izuku released Nighteye as he rolled his eyes. “So that’s what this is about. Really?”

“I still have great respect and love for All Might,” Nighteye continued, pointedly ignoring Izuku. “But on the matter of his successor, I fail to understand his vision.”

‘You’re going to be insufferably smug about it when I’m exposed as a villain, aren’t you? Well, that and rightfully horrified.’ Izuku looked Nighteye in the eye as he clenched his fist and said, “I’ll just have to show you then, won’t I?”

-

“Today, we’ll be patrolling and monitoring. I’ll take Bubble Girl. Lemillion, Themis, you will be operating as a unit.”

Izuku nodded as he adjusted his mask and goggles, ensuring that they fastened properly. “What are we monitoring?”

“The Nighteye agency is working on a secret investigation,” Bubble Girl answered.

Nighteye continued, “We’re investigating a small organized crime group called the Shie Hassaikai.” He held up a photograph that had Izuku’s heart stuttering in his chest.

‘Could this be…?’

“Their young head, a man named Chisaki, has been making strange moves lately.”

“I’m surprised that the yakuza would risk being so active,” he hummed, mind racing as he put the pieces together.

“If I had to guess, then it’s because All Might drove most of them out in the first place. Now that he’s retired… Well, we have to pick up the slack!” Bubble Girl said with a determined nod. “This Chisaki guy is gathering forces for some reason, so we’re keeping a close eye on him. He even made contact with the League of Villains recently, though we don’t know any details.”

‘I thought so! A plague mask does look like a beak, after all. I couldn’t have gotten much luckier with my work studies.’ Izuku forced his voice to wobble as he said, “The League of Villains…?”

“Indeed. However, we’ve acquired no evidence of any wrongdoing, so we can’t treat the Shie Hassaikai as full-fledged villains. What the Nighteye agency seeks is concrete evidence of criminal activity. While being careful not to attract their attention, of course.” 

“Right!” 

Izuku was thrumming with excitement as he patrolled the streets alongside Togata. He was thrilled to see how informatics agencies were run, and he was even more thrilled that he’d be able to help the League this way. ‘I’ll have to call Himiko instead of texting her. I can’t risk someone tracing a leak of sensitive information to me. I’ll just have to make sure that Danger Sense doesn’t go off before I make that call.’

He was so lost in his own head that he almost didn’t realize that Danger Sense was trying to warn him of something, steadily getting louder and more urgent. Izuku turned just in time to see a little girl barrel into his side. She was clearly terrified and was trembling from head to toe. Danger Sense began to cross the threshold of a warning to becoming outright painful. ‘She’s being chased. We need to get her out of here.’ 

Izuku crouched down, keeping his voice gentle and reassuring as he said, “Hello there. Are you okay? Let me help you stand back up.” He gently encouraged the little girl back up to her feet, freezing when he glanced up and saw someone else come from the alleyway that she’d just run out of.

“Shame on you for causing trouble for this nice hero,” Chisaki drawled, and Izuku was relieved that his mask and goggles would keep his nerves from showing on his face. “We need to go home, Eri.”

‘This is the guy who hurt Magne...'

“Sorry for any trouble that my daughter caused, hero. She tends to get excited while playing and hurts herself. It’s a real problem.” Izuku twitched at the false kindness oozing from Chisaki’s voice. He silently activated Telepathic Connection while his hand was still resting on Eri’s arm.

“We’re the ones who should apologize!” Togata insisted while he bowed, and while he was busy distracting Chisaki, Izuku focused on the little girl in front of him.

‘Hello Eri! My name is Izuku Midoriya.’ Her eyes widened as she looked up at him before nervously glancing back at Chisaki.  ‘Don’t worry, he can’t hear us. You just have to think real hard and I’ll hear what you have to say. No one else can.’

‘Please… help me.’

‘I will, Eri.'

“I’ve never seen you two before. Newcomers to the hero business? You’re both so young.”

Togata laughed and nodded with a wide smile on his face. “That’s right! We’re both a bundle of nerves about being such newbies.” He held a hand out to Izuku and said, “Stand up, buddy! Gotta face the unknown future on your feet.”

Izuku did so, lifting Eri up with him as she clutched onto his jumpsuit and sniffled. He ran a hand through her hair in a soothing motion, gently detangling the knots he felt in it.

“And which agency are you working for?” Chisaki questioned.

“We’re still students, actually! It’d be awfully presumptuous of us to claim an association with any agency. We’re just getting a chance to see the ropes on an internship.” Togata looked at Izuku and said, “Well, come on! We’ve gotta make our rounds of the entire neighborhood before lunch. She’s fine now! Just put her down so we can be on our way.”

‘Don’t go!’

‘I won’t. I promise not to leave you behind.’  

Danger Sense was still warning him about the man standing in front of them, but Izuku didn’t care about any of that. “Your daughter seems scared.”

“Only because I just got through scolding her.”

“Let’s go,” Togata urged him, and the look in his eyes was begging for Izuku to shut up. He refused to.

“These bandages don’t look like something she’d get from playing too rough either.”

“She falls a lot,” Chisaki said with a shrug.

Izuku glared up at him as he said, “People said that about me too. Didn’t mean that I wasn’t getting beaten. For a child to be trembling like this… I know that fear. You will not convince me that it’s anything but what it is.”

Chisaki glared at him before sighing and forcing a light tone. “It figures that a hero would be sensitive to such subtleties. Eri’s story is… quite a tragic one. I do not wish to discuss it around so many strangers. Follow me.” He beckoned for them to follow him into the alleyway.

‘He’s… dangerous. Don’t let him touch you.’

‘It’s okay, Eri. I’ve got a lot of counters for touch-based quirks, and my friend can keep people from touching him at all. You’re safe now. We’ll protect you.’

“I’ve actually been concerned about Eri lately. No matter what I say, she fights back.”

“Raising a child can be tough, I imagine,” Togata murmured.

“Yes. Children are so difficult.” Izuku could hear the sneer in Chisaki’s voice. “What will they become? What can they become? I constantly find myself wondering about that.” Chisaki tugged at the glove on his hand and looked back at them as bloodlust filled the air.

Eri trembled, but as a soft, golden glow surrounded both Izuku and her, she only clutched onto him tighter. A pristine, white glove was pocketed as Chisaki turned to face them directly.

“Let her go,” Togata hissed.

Izuku shook his head, holding Eri closer. “No.”

“Such a shame. I hate getting my hands dirty.”

“I’d think this through if I were you,” Izuku warned. “According to section twelve, paragraph d of the Hero Rights Act, any licensed hero, regardless of license level, may remove a child from a potentially harmful situation and place them into their emergency custody. I’m enacting that. You can contest it in court if you want to, and you might even win since I’m so new to this. Making a scene, on the other hand... That wouldn’t look good for you. It wouldn’t look good for you at all. So, what’ll it be?”

Tendrils of Blackwhip sneakily crept along the shadows of the alleyway, prepared to lunge for Chisaki at the slightest provocation. From the way that Chisaki glared at Izuku as he slid his gloves back on, it wouldn’t be necessary.

“Smart man.”

“I’ll see you in court,” Chisaki snarled before stalking off.

Eri sobbed as Izuku hugged her close, whispering, “Thank you, thank you, thank you…!”

“What were you thinking?!” Togata cried out. “This could set us back months--”

“I was thinking that there was a child who needed our help, Lemillion,” he sneered. “Putting aside the fact that it would’ve been more suspicious for us to let him go without incident, I refuse to become the type of person who sees suffering and looks the other way for the sake of some nebulous greater good. How are you supposed to save a million people if you refuse to save someone right in front of you?”

Togata looked taken aback by his tone, but when he glanced at a trembling Eri who seemed almost as afraid of him as she had been of Chisaki, Izuku watched his face morph with guilt. “I’ll… contact Bubble Girl. We should get out of here.”

-

“Of all the foolish, arrogant things that you could have done, I cannot imagine a worse scenario than this, Midoriya!”

Izuku stood in Nighteye’s office alongside everyone else, slightly chilled by the rain that they’d run through to get back to the agency. Eri tensed up as the hero shouted, and Izuku leveled a steady glare at him. “I can think of several. A number of those end with Eri either hurt or dead because she ran away. A hero’s job is to prioritize saving lives, always.”

He sighed, took a few deep breaths, and said, “As it stands, Chisaki believes that I only removed Eri from his custody because personal experience made me hyperaware of abusive situations. Letting him go with no protest would have been more suspicious as heroes-in-training, indicating that we had a reason to look the other way. Neither of us gave him any information, so as far as he’s aware, we just happened to stumble across each other at an inopportune time for him.”

“And when he takes us to court and wins?! What then, Midoriya? It’ll make it next to impossible for us to bring him up on charges again.”

“That’s where my knowledge of our legal system comes in handy,” Izuku chuckled. “My mom is a lawyer, and she’s worked cases like this before. Our courts are so slammed with trying to get convictions for villains that child abuse cases can get pushed back months and months before anyone ever hears about them. If a hero took a child away from someone, then everyone assumes that it was for good reason and puts those cases off for even longer. No matter how much fuss Chisaki makes or how much money he tries to throw at judges --which I doubt he’ll have much of, given how the yakuza has been struggling lately-- it will take at least half a year for him to get a hearing. Probably closer to a year. I have no doubt that he’ll be angry about that, and once someone gets angry, they start getting sloppy. If anything, it’ll be easier for us to get evidence against him once he realizes that things aren’t going to go his way."

Togata was pale as a sheet. “... You’re a little terrifying, Midoriya.”

Nighteye sighed heavily, but he also looked at Izuku like he was seeing him for the first time. “And what will stop Chisaki from going on a rampage once he realizes this?”

“Right now, the only thing he has working for him is that no one can link him to any crimes. He won’t be willing to give that advantage up, not when it was important enough to him that he let us go.”

Now that the tension in the room was easing, Bubble Girl looked over at Eri and said, “There’s no helping it now, Sir. We’ll just need to figure out what to do with her.”

“No…” Eri whimpered. The room went quiet as she buried her face into Izuku’s shoulder. “You wanted to leave me. Wanna stay with Izuku!”

“Shh, it’s alright, Eri. I planned on taking you back with me anyway,” Izuku murmured. He turned to Bubble Girl with narrowed eyes. “She’s under my custody, not the custody of the agency. I’ve already alerted Yaoyorozu about the situation, minus any confidential details, of course. She agreed to make a few things for Eri until I can go shopping for her. She also promised to inform Aizawa-sensei, so everything is covered on that front.”

“You are entirely too much trouble,” Nighteye grumbled. “Fine. The both of you are done patrolling for the day, and I’ll push through the request for other agencies to team up with us on this. Midoriya, head back to UA. You’ll need to lay low for a little while, but I’ll contact you once you can come back. Until then, focus on your studies.”

“I will,” he said with a nod. “I am sorry for making things more complicated, but I wouldn’t hesitate to do it again.”

Nighteye chuckled as he looked at him, eyes oddly soft as he said, “It’s not immediately obvious, but you do remind me of All Might in some ways. That stubborn dedication to saving everyone you see is one of them.”

Izuku made a show of appearing flattered before he left the agency, feeling distinctly unsettled. ‘Well, stranger things have happened. I better call Himiko so that she knows what’s going on.’

-

The train ride back to UA went by quickly. Himiko had been delighted at how pissed off Overhaul --which she told him was Chisaki’s villain name-- was about losing Eri, but she had bad news for him as well. She and Twice were currently stuck with the Shie Hassaikai, waiting for a moment to turn against them. Because of that, Himiko overheard a raging Overhaul yelling about how the main ingredient of his perfect creation was stolen from him. She promised to keep an ear to the ground for any more information, but what had been happening was clear. ‘Human experimentation. I’m so glad that I grabbed Eri when I did. If she had gone back to that…’

Izuku needed to focus on keeping her safe now that she was out of that situation, and he swore to himself that he would do whatever it took to keep her from being hurt like that again. He strode toward UA with a purpose, and though Eri hid herself in his arms, she did glance over at the massive school with wide eyes.

“We’re staying here?”

“Yep! This is where I go to school. Lots of other kids live here too, but there’s only twenty of us in the building we’ll stay at.” Noticing that Eri was starting to look overwhelmed, he said, “But you don’t have to talk to anyone that you don’t want to, okay? You can stay with me and if anyone bothers you, then I’ll tell them to go away.”

“Okay… Trust you.”

His heart flooded with warmth, and Izuku lightly tapped Eri’s nose, chuckling as she scrunched it up before resting her head on his shoulder. The walk to 1-A’s dorms was a peaceful one, largely because classes were still in session. ‘Will my excused absence cover the whole day? I might be able to go to the classes after lunch if Eri is feeling up to it, but I won’t push her. I’ll deal with the consequences if they’re mad about me not rejoining them.’

When Izuku peeked into the empty common room, he found a forest green dress, house slippers, and a note waiting for him on the coffee table. 

I tried to guess the size based on age and the picture you sent me, but I apologize if this is too big or too small for her. Sorry for not making proper shoes either. I didn’t want to hurt her feet by giving her the wrong size, so I figured something soft would work for now.

“Is… that for me?”

Izuku nodded, setting Eri down as he said, “Yep! We’ll get you some more later, but for now, will you help me put this on you?”

Eri nodded, and once her new clothes were on, her eyes widened as she wiggled her feet around. “It’s soft!”

“I’m glad you like them! We’ll have to get some other shoes for outside, but I can carry you while you’re wearing these. Now, let’s go take care of your hair and then get some lunch, okay?”

Eri’s hair was surprisingly smooth once it was properly taken care of. She was awed when she could run her fingers through it without running into tangles, and though Izuku only quickly threw together a couple of sandwiches and some sliced apples for lunch, Eri hummed happily as she ate. ‘She really likes apples, huh? I’ll have to remember that.’

“Hey, Eri?”

“Hm?”

“Would you be okay with going to classes with me? It might be a bit noisy, but you don’t have to say or do anything.”

Eri scrunched up her eyebrows as she mulled it over, slowly nodding after a couple of minutes. “You’ll stay with me?”

“Of course!”

“Can we bring the bunny?”

Izuku’s eyes softened as he picked Eri up, nodding as he said, “We sure can. Let’s go back to my room and pick them up.”

With his backpack fastened, Eri in his arms, and the stuffed rabbit from Neito in her arms, Izuku jogged toward the main campus. After they slipped off for the third time, Izuku just used Blackwhip to hold onto them. Eri poked at the shadowy tendrils curiously before deeming them safe and going back to playing with floppy, plush ears.

He got odd looks once he got inside the building, but Izuku was more focused on keeping Eri calm despite how crowded the hallways were. They were both relieved once the rush of people had arrived at their classes, and Izuku picked up the pace so he wouldn’t be too late.

Izuku opened the doors to his home economics class with wide, slightly frantic eyes as he said, “Sorry that I’m late, Snipe-sensei! I’ve suddenly found myself a father and could really use a crash course in parenting.”

The entire class was shocked into silence. Eri shyly turned to look at them all and mumbled, “Hello…” She lasted about half a minute before hiding her face, and Izuku instinctively started running his hand through her hair again.

“... Just take yer seat, Midoriya. We were going to bake today, but we can multitask."

Chapter Text

“So, what led up to this?” Yaoyorozu questioned as she made another outfit for Eri after classes let out for the day. They had a few different options for Eri to choose from and some real shoes now, but beyond the bare essentials, Izuku was going to be on his own for this.

“I really can’t say, sorry. It’s confidential.”

“Must be quite some case…”

Izuku nodded, pretending that he didn’t see a few of his classmates blatantly eavesdropping. Once her new, bright red boots were on her feet, Eri shyly tugged at the edge of Izuku’s jacket before holding her arms up. 

He could hear Tooru and Ashido cooing over them as he picked Eri up. “Thank you, Yaoyorozu,” he said before walking to the elevator. Ochako and Shouto silently filed in after him, giving him and Eri a reassuring smile as they all got off on the second floor.

They all got settled in Izuku’s room --Izuku and Eri were on the bed while Ochako and Shouto were sitting on the rug-- before they started talking.

“Hello, Eri. My name’s Ochako Uraraka, but you can call me Ochako. It’s nice to meet you!” Ochako was careful to keep her voice gentle and quiet, and Eri seemed to appreciate that; Izuku felt even more fond of Ochako for it. Eri waved hello before looking over at Shouto and tilting her head.

Shouto smiled --one of the tiny, delicate ones that made Izuku’s heart pound-- and waved as he said, “Hello there. I’m Shouto.”

Eri giggled as she waved back. ‘Huh. He actually is good with kids. The more you know.’

“When are you going shopping for her?” Ochako asked. “I’ll try to find some good deals for you. I’m not starting my work-study with Ryukyu until next week, so that gives us some time.”

“We could all go,” Shouto murmured. “I’ve still got a few of my father’s credit cards, and I’d like to help if you’ll let me.” Shouto’s eyes trailed to the floor as he wrung his hand together, and Ochako gently pried them apart before rubbing the back of his hands in soothing circles.

Izuku’s voice was entirely too soft with flaring emotions when he said, “I’d appreciate it, but you don’t have to.”

“I want to. We’re in this together, aren’t we? I don’t want to be like my father. I want to do this right.”

“You make it sound like we’re all co-parenting her,” Izuku chuckled, feeling touched by the thought.

“Aren’t we?” All three of them blushed at Shouto’s question, and Eri snuggled up with the bunny as she watched them with wide eyes. “Natsuo said it sounded like we were already dating. Hanging out at Izuku’s house, having study dates, and going to cafes and ice cream parlors over summer break… I really like you both. I’m sorry, was that not clear? Were we not already dating?”

Shouto looked genuinely distraught at the misunderstanding, and Ochako and Izuku were quick to reassure him.

“I like both of you too! I was just afraid of making working together awkward. I figured that I should focus on working toward the future…” Ochako mumbled as she rubbed the back of her neck, face bright red.

“I care about you both so much. You’re easily some of the most important people in my life, and I know that I’d be devastated if either of you ever left it.” Izuku glanced back at Eri and asked, “Would that be okay with you? You’d be seeing a lot of Shouto and Ochako anyway, but I don’t want to do anything that makes you uncomfortable. You don’t have to call us anything that you don’t want to either.”

“It’s okay, ‘Zuku,” Eri murmured. “Are you sure I’m not too much trouble?”

“Of course not!” they all insisted. Ochako’s voice trembled with the thought of what made Eri feel that way, Shouto’s was soft and gentle because he understood exactly why she did, and Izuku’s was steeled with the determination to ensure that she’d never feel that way again.

Eri studied the three of them before nodding with wide, trusting eyes. “Thank you,” she whispered. “Thank you for saving me.” The corners of her mouth twitched in an attempted smile that looked more like a grimace. Izuku could see that Eri was more comfortable now, though, laying down with relaxed muscles. She gently petted the stuffed bunny’s ears as her eyes grew heavier and finally closed, giving in to the exhaustion that had plagued her for far too long.

Ochako carefully took off Eri’s shoes before tucking her in. She looked to Izuku and Shouto with watery brown eyes and said, “You all feel that too, right? Like you’d kill and die for her?” They both nodded. “Good, we’re on the same page then. As for us… Nothing really has to change, right?”

“Right,” Shouto agreed with a nod. “We’ll continue doing what works for us and see where that goes. I’m sorry for assuming before.”

“It’s fine! Honestly, looking back on it, we kind of were all already dating,” Ochako snorted.

Izuku chuckled at them both before turning to Ochako with a small grin. “Yeah, nothing has to change. Maybe we’ll hold hands or something that we didn’t do before, but we’ll never do anything new before making sure that everyone is okay with it.”

Ochako gave them a relieved nod, hugging them both before settling down again. “... I wonder how my parents are going to feel about being grandparents?”

All three of them shuddered, knowing that they wouldn’t be able to put off that conversation forever.

“My father won’t hear a word of this. I should probably tell my mother the next time that I visit, though…”

“I wonder if we’ll be able to get approval to visit home? I guess a hero escort would be fine for this. I really don’t want to tell Mom over the phone.”

Ochako laughed nervously. “I sure hope so. My Mom and Dad are gonna freak out as it is.”

‘We are definitely going to have to talk to Aizawa-sensei about that, but I’m more worried about something else. At least one of us needs to be here to look after Eri at all times, and with all three of us going on work studies… That’s going to be difficult. We need to find someone who can watch over her. Someone that we actually trust. Tooru and Fumikage are both going to go on work studies too, so it can’t be them’

Izuku knew that they’d figure it out, though. At least they had another week before it became a pressing issue.

-

“Neito, can I talk with you for a minute?”

Izuku had mulled everything over for days, but he was running out of time. His brother was one of the few people that he felt like he could trust Eri to, especially out of the students who weren’t going on a work-study. 

“You’ve got a funny look on your face.” Neito’s voice was clearly worried as he looked Izuku over head to toe. “Does it have anything to do with what 1-A has been hiding from everyone else? You and your friends are subtle, but the rest are decidedly less so.”

Izuku snorted at that. “Yeah, it does. I actually want to introduce you to someone.”

Izuku knew he’d messed up the instant he saw Neito’s eyes gleam with mirth. “Oh-ho? Have you, Uraraka, and Todoroki finally gotten your shit together?”

“Neito!” Izuku’s face went bright red and he hid it behind his hands. “I mean, yes, but that’s not what this is about!”

“Really? I was just teasing you, but I’m glad to hear it.” Neito’s smirk slowly morphed into a genuine smile, and Izuku lamented the fact that he could never stay angry with his brother. “I mean, it was about time. Do you know how horrifically awkward it was to watch the three of you dancing around each other?”

‘Nevermind, I hate him.’ Izuku swatted at Neito with an indignant shout that drew some odd looks from the students around them. Neito dodged the swing with a cackle, laughing so hard that tears were welling up in his eyes.

“If you’re gonna be that way, then I’m not gonna introduce you after all.” Izuku walked off with an exaggerated huff of frustration, grinning when he heard Neito immediately run after him.

“Izuku, wait up! Come on, I’m sorry!”

The two of them playfully bickered with each other on the way back to 1-A’s dorms, and while Izuku wouldn’t change who Neito was for the world, he knew that they’d need to be careful about introducing him to Eri.

“Listen… The person I’m taking you to meet is a bit skittish, okay? You need to be gentle with her, and make sure you keep your voice down.”

Neito straightened up at the seriousness in Izuku’s voice, nodding solemnly. “Of course. Is there anything else I should know?”

And really, how was Izuku supposed to resist an invitation like that? “Oh, only that you’re an uncle now.”

“W-what?” Neito stammered. “Izuku, what the fuck does that mean?!”

“What did I just say about your volume, Neito?” 

“You can’t just drop that on me and expect me to stay calm! Did you and Uraraka…? She and Todoroki? Just, what? How? When?”

“The look on your face!” Izuku snickered. “Oh, that’s priceless.” He wiped at his eyes before turning to Neito and saying, “I adopted a little girl. Well, technically she’s been put into my emergency custody, but semantics.” He waved his hand dismissively. “Ergo, you’re an uncle now.”

“I swear you just took five years off my lifespan,” Neito muttered. “Why do I put up with you?”

“Because we’re both little shits who deserve having to put up with each other?” Izuku questioned with a tilt of his head. Neito snorted and conceded his point with a nod.

“I’ll be on my best behavior, I swear. Contrary to popular belief, I do know how to dial it down.”

“I know you do. I trust you with her. With everything, really.”

Neito’s smile flickered as a pained expression crossed his face, covered up so quickly that Izuku barely noticed it. ‘What was that?’

Blue eyes narrowed and darted around before Neito plastered a smile on his face and wrapped his arm around Izuku’s shoulder. “Well then! Guess it’s time to meet my niece.”

Izuku followed Neito’s line-of-sight and saw that Jirou was watching to two of them as they walked by, curiosity written all over her face. His mind was whirring a mile a minute, and the realization that Neito started acting that way after he saw Jirou had green eyes widening. ‘What was he about to say? Why would he be so worried about someone overhearing unless… Does he know? How?’

Neito bumped his hand against Izuku’s and tilted his head in a silent signal that he wanted Izuku to use Telepathic Connection on him. The school at large still didn’t know about that quirk --or application of Izuku’s quirk, as far as they were aware-- and he kept it that way for obvious reasons. The ability to silently communicate with Neito and freak people out by the two of them diving into quirk analysis in sync was just a bonus.

‘I can practically hear your worrying from here. You’re making us look suspicious.’

‘I know, I know… Wait! Why would you be worried about us looking suspicious anyway?’

Neito rolled his eyes as the two of them walked into 1-A’s dorm building. ‘Izuku, do you think I don’t know? You can’t hide anything from me. The heroes here are oblivious as hell and you have the excuse of team meetings to fall back on, but not everyone is buying that. Jirou has been lingering around you a lot lately, and I don’t think she’s the only one. You need to be careful before you get yourself caught.’

Izuku gulped and nodded. He looked around as the two of them made their way to the elevator, eyes narrowing on the oddly large number of spiderwebs in the corners. 

‘I approve, by the way. Not that you need me to do so, but I agree that change is long overdue. Your whole team is behind you.’

‘Thank you.’ Izuku sniffled with a small smile on his face, glad that the elevator was currently shielding the two of them from the world. ‘I was so afraid that I’d wind up losing you because of this.’

‘Never. You won’t be rid of me so easily.’ Neito ruffled Izuku’s hair and nudged his shoulder as the two of them walked into the hallway. ‘I’ve been keeping an eye on which of my classmates might make the switch too, you know? I’d never go to them without you and Pact backing me, but I suspect that we can do quite a bit more recruiting than we have been so far.’

It seemed like too simple a solution, but his brother wasn’t wrong. Izuku hated the thought of fighting against his classmates in the future. Recruiting them to the Scales of Justice --and later persuading them to villainy-- was how he could avoid that.

‘You’re right. We’ll work on getting more members soon. The more of us that go through with this, the stronger the impact will be.’ 

Heroes would dismiss them as soon as they were discovered, but heroes weren’t their target audience; they weren’t the ones that the Scales of Justice were trying to reach out to. Civilians would see several students from the most prominent hero school in the country take a stand against the foundation of their society and wonder what they discovered. They would ask the questions that no one else dared to ask, and those questions would give the Scales of Justice the opening they needed to convince people that things needed to change.

Neito snorted. ‘Save the plotting for later. We’re here.’

Ruby red eyes lit up with joy as soon as Izuku opened his door. Eri was more cautious around Neito, but it didn’t take her long to warm up to him. Izuku had already told her about his hero team; as soon as Neito mentioned that he was part of that, Eri trusted him implicitly. The entire team joined them and started discussing how they could protect Eri from Overhaul and his lackeys if they ever came near her again, and Eri looked like she was about to cry with relief when she realized that Izuku was far from the only one who would fight for her now, unlike with Nighteye’s agency.

“Izuku?”

Eri’s voice drew Izuku out of the muttering spiral that he had fallen down. “What is it, sweetheart?”

“Um, I know… some of their quirks. Would that help?”

Green eyes sparkled as Izuku drew Eri into a gentle hug, carefully watching her for any signs of discomfort. “It absolutely would. Have I told you that you’re my favorite kid ever, Eri?”

She giggled in response, and the sound was like music to his ears. Judging by the watery smiles on his classmates’ faces, Izuku wasn’t the only one to feel that way.

Eri told them everything she knew about the Shie Hassaikai, including the quirks of several high-ranking members that Izuku doubted the heroes even knew existed.

‘Thank you, Eri. You’re an even bigger help than you realize. With this, we’ll be able to make sure the Shie Hassaikai never hurts anyone like they’ve hurt you or Magne ever again.’

-

When Izuku, Ochako, Tsuyu, Kirishima, Shouto, and Fumikage all left the dorms at the same time without any of their uniform cases in hand, Izuku knew that the heroes were finally preparing to take down the Shie Hassaikai. His team gave each other determined nods before joining in with Tsuyu and Kirishima’s idle chatter.

“It’s weird that we’re all on the same train, right? Midoribro typically heads to Tokyo, but the rest of us… I work with Fat Gum in Kansai, Hawks is based in Fukuoka, and Ryukyu is based in Okinawa. It can’t be a coincidence that we’re all going somewhere together.”

“There must be something big going on, kero. If so many heroes are meeting up, then that means a raid. But who is it that we’re raiding?”

Shouto’s eyes narrowed, playing his part well. “I’m not sure, but it can’t be good. If Hawks and Ryukyu are being pulled into this, then that means whoever we’re up against is a big threat.”

“Do you think it’s the League of Villains?” Kirishima questioned worriedly.

Ochako shook her head. “I don’t think that they’d involve us if it was.”

“What a mad banquet of darkness…”

Izuku nodded along with their conversation and gave contemplative hums here and there, but he was thoroughly distracted by the hero presence on their train. ‘I see no less than five active heroes traveling with us. They’re all relatively unknown heroes, but it’s weird that they didn’t announce their presence to us, right? Typically our escorts walk alongside us instead of acting as tails.’

When they all got off the train and started walking toward their destination, both Shouto and Ochako flanked Izuku. His hands intertwined with both of theirs, and Fumikage stayed near the trio, though he also made a concentrated effort to distract Tsuyu and Kirishima from their swelling rage.

Everyone who had met her loved Eri to bits. She was such an amazing kid, and the Scales of Justice were especially protective of her. They wanted Overhaul to pay. This meeting was their chance to ensure that he would, so long as they convinced the heroes involved that they were ready for such a huge mission. They couldn’t afford a single misstep.

Izuku led them all to the meetup point, joining up with the Big Three along the way, and his eyes widened slightly when he saw just how many heroes were here. ‘There’s all of our mentors and some of their sidekicks, of course, but even Aizawa-sensei… Is that Rock Lock? Didn’t he just have a kid? And that’s definitely Kesagiriman and Mr. Brave talking over there. Who’s the short old guy? He looks like he should be retired, but then again, people say the same about Yoroi Musha.’

Kirishima looked as dumbfounded as Izuku felt. “Woah. I didn’t expect there to be so many of us.”

“Aizawa-sensei? What are you doing here, kero?”

‘Come to think of it, it’s odd that he wasn’t on the train with us if he was going to be involved in this. The heroes must have had some sort of preliminary meeting before deciding to bring students into this.’

“They asked for my help, so here I am. We’ll talk more about the specifics later.”

“Ryukyu!!” Nejire called out. “Hey, hey, what are we doing here?! I know you said something about a meeting, but what is it?!”

Ryukyu only chuckled as Nejire darted up toward her. “You’ll find out soon. Now that the students are here, shall we begin, Nighteye?”

Everyone turned their attention the informatics hero as he swept his eyes over all of them. The wight of that gaze still gave Izuku the chills, and given how Ochako, Shouto, and Fumikage straightened up ever-so-slightly, they felt that pressure too.

“Thanks to the intel provided by all of you, we’re making great strides in this investigation. The small yakuza organization, otherwise known as the Shie Hassaikai, have been plotting something in the shadows for quite some time now. I’ve called this meeting to share with you all what we’ve learned, so that we may take the proper steps going forward to ensure they go down once and for all.”

There was a buzz of conversations that sprung up after that, but Izuku was solidly focused on Nighteye, Bubble Girl, and Centipeder. Bubble Girl cleared her throat. “Now then, let’s get started.”

The room fell into silence, and Bubble Girl looked down at her tablet before continuing. “For the past two weeks or so, the Nighteye Agency has been conducting an independent investigation of the Shie Hassaikai, now formally designated as a villain group.”

“What started all of this” Kesagiriman questioned.

Centipeder was the one who answered. “The Reservoir Dogs incident. The police wrote it off as a mere accident, but there were a few inconsistencies that prompted our investigation. I’ve been working with the underground to find some leads. According to my findings, the Shie Hassaikai has been making contact with outsiders and underground dealers throughout the past year. They appear to be working toward expansion and accumulating funds. And shortly after we began investigating…”

A grainy image from a security feed was projected onto the wall. “They made contact with a known member of the League of Villains. Jin Bubaigawara, who goes by the villain name Twice.”

‘You know, come to think of it, we should probably come up with villain names, huh? They wouldn’t keep calling us the name that we chose as heroes, and if we don’t pick something, then they’ll get to choose the narrative for us.’

Izuku could worry about that later. For now, he refocused on Centipeder. “They were all very wary of being tailed, so we couldn’t pursue them then, but the police have provided their assistance in that matter. Their findings confirm that there was some sort of conflict between the two groups.”

“The League of Villains, huh? So that’s why you contacted Tsukauchi and I…” The old man muttered. 

Kesagiriman hummed and tilted his head. “Speaking of, where is Detective Tsukauchi?”

“Following up with more eyewitnesses.”

Izuku carefully kept his relief from showing on his face. ‘The literal last thing I need is Nighteye and Detective Lie Detector in the same room as me and the majority of my team. That’s just a disaster waiting to happen.’

“Kid…” Izuku startled when the old guy looked directly at him. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come down to this, but you might get dragged into some nasty business.”

“A friend of yours?” Togata questioned.

“I have no idea who he is,” Izuku murmured lowly, though he had a sinking suspicion that the old man knew him for a very specific reason.

“That geezer fought with All Might at Kamino! You sure know some wild people, Midoribro.”

Shouto and Ochako came to the same realization that he had in that moment, and they looked just as irritated about it as Izuku was. They quickly schooled their expressions, though no one would’ve been able to see the subtle, frustrated tilt to Shouto’s brows anyway, but not before giving Izuku a sympathetic smile that made his heart race.

Nighteye silenced the room with a pointed, “Continue.”

“R-right!” Bubble Girl stammered. “So, given these developments, we reached out to all of you through HN.”

‘The Hero Network, huh? It seems like a massive security risk to have a web service for licensed heroes just… out there like that. They may not communicate specifics, but a villain could still find out about meetings like this and either attack them or listen in on them for information, provided that they were good enough at hacking. Hm, now there’s an idea. I wonder if we could find a hacker for the League?’

Apparently, he’d missed a conversation about the same network between Tsuyu, Kirishima, and Nejire, but Rock Lock clued him in on that quickly. “UA students or not, what are these kids doing here? They’re just slowing us down. At this rate, it’ll be dark out before we even begin discussing the Shie Hassaikai’s plan.”

“That’s nonsense!” Fat Gum cut in, gesturing to Kirishima and Amajiki. “These two are super important participants!” 

Kirishima pointed at himself, stammering in shock, “Really? Us?”

Before they could get any more off track, Nighteye intervened. “We suspected that the Shie Hassaikai was dealing in illegal substances. That’s why I’ve called in a hero familiar with such things.”

“Back in the day, I squashed loads of dealers like that!” Fat Gum crushed some candy in his hand for emphasis. “And then, during Red Riot’s debut the other day, some perp went and shot Tamaki with a type of drug that I’d never seen before. A drug that destroys quirks.”

“What?!” Togata cried out. “Tamaki, are you going to be okay?!”

“Yeah… I’m back to normal after a night’s rest, see?” He lifted a foot that had now been shifted into a cow hoof, and Izuku would stand by the fact that Amajiki has one of the coolest quirks he’d ever seen until the day he died.

“So he recovered? That’s a relief then. This stuff must not be fatal.” 

Izuku narrowed his eyes at Rock Lock’s words. ‘Logically, I know that destroying someone’s quirk factor could kill them if it’s tied too closely to the rest of their biology, but I still don’t like how that was his first thought. A transformation-type quirk is the least likely to affect their user like that too…’

“It’s not,” Nighteye agreed. “On that point, I’m passing it off to Eraserhead.”

“The drug seems a bit different from Erasure. Because I’m not actually attacking a person’s quirk itself.”

Izuku perked up. ‘Am I about to learn more about how Erasure works from Aizawa-sensei himself? I have my theories, but knowing for certain… That’ll make working around it much easier in the future, and I can share that information with the others as well.’

“What we call quirks are special additions to an ordinary body, or the plus alpha. Everything included in the Plus Alpha are what we call quirk factors. What I do is temporarily stop those factors from activating; I can’t cause any damage to them.”

“We got Tamaki checked out at the hospital right after that attack. They told us that his quirk factors themselves were damaged. Thankfully, his natural healing factor was enough to fix the problem…”

“Did they analyze what he got shot with?” Nigheye questioned.

“It didn’t do anything else to Tamaki other than attack his quirk. The gangster who shot him wasn’t talking and at first, it seemed like all we had was an empty vial, but!” Fat Gum turned to Kirishima with his huge, trademark smile. “Since one of the rounds bounced off Kirishima’s body, we got a vial of the stuff that’s completely intact!” 

“That’s super cool, kero.”

Ochako grinned and nodded alongside Tsuyu. “You did great, Kirishima!”

“Analysis of the substance inside… It revealed something pretty disgusting. They found human cells and blood inside.”

Izuku froze. Shouto, Ochako, and Fumikage weren’t faring any better than he was. They had all seen the scars on Eri’s arms and legs as she twirled around in her new dresses and skirts. None of them were blind; they could tell that it was all done intentionally, surgically, with some sort of purpose in mind.

‘And now we know…’  Rage unlike anything he’d ever felt welled up within Izuku, and he knew, with absolute certainty, that Overhaul was going to die for this, whether it was by his hand or the League’s.

“So the effect it has comes from another person’s quirk? A quirk destroying quirk…” Ryukyu trailed off, deep in thought. 

“How does any of this connect to the Shie Hassaikai?” One of the local heroes questioned.

“Although Kirishima caught the guy who had the illegal substance, figuring out the network like that for drugs is pretty tricky. It’s shrunk down from what it was like before, but these drugs pass through multiple levels of groups and organizations down the supply chain until they finally arrive at the lowest level,” Fat Gum explained. “There’s no proof that the Shie Hassaikai is the supplier in question, but they definitely did business with one of the middlemen.”

“That’s all you’ve got?!”

Nighteye held his hand up, silencing the hero’s outcry. “The other day, Ryukyu and her agency stopped a feud between two villain groups. The boss of one of those groups is the middleman dealer just mentioned.” 

“One of those giant villains shot himself up with a booster to extend his short activation time.” 

Hawks snapped to attention at that, golden eyes sharpening. “Trigger? If they’ve started circulating that again, then it’s going to be a huge hassle.”

Kesagiriman seemed far from convinced about this, and even knowing what he did, Izuku couldn’t blame him. “Linking all this recent organized crime to the Shie Hassaikai… Are you sure that you’re not just seeing what you want to see? There’s been an increase in organized crime in general, so there’s no proof that this is connected in any way. I’m still not convinced. Seems to me like you want the Shie Hassaikai to be the root of all evil, so you’re just painting the right picture for that. I’m gonna need something more concrete to go on.”

“I was getting to that,” Nighteye said with a glare. “The Shie Hassaikai’s leader, Chisaki Kai, has a quirk called Overhaul. It’s the ability to both dismantle and restore, destroy and then heal, and then we have bullets that can destroy quirks.”

Togata finally caught on to what the rest of Izuku’s group knew, eyes going wide in horror. “Chisaki has a daughter,” Nighteye continued. “She has no birth record or paper trail at all, so the exact details of her quirk are unclear. And when Lemillion and Themis encountered her, she was covered in an excessive amount of bandages.”

“No… It’s too repulsive to even imagine,” Ryukyu choked out. 

“That’s super-powered society for ya. Anything you can imagine, there’s someone out there who can make it happen and will gladly do so.” Izuku disliked this old guy more and more every time that he spoke.

“W-what are we imagining?” Kirishima asked, looking between the grave expressions on nearly everyone’s faces with confusion.

“I told you that we didn’t need the kids here,” Rock Lock grumbled. “Just use your head, kid.”

Hawks clenched the table in front of him so tightly that the metal groaned and bended underneath his grip. “You’re saying that he’s turning his daughter’s body into these bullets and selling them on the black market? And we’re just sitting here, talking about it, instead of doing something?!"

“Izuku saved her.” The room went quiet at Shouto’s interruption, and he only tilted his head with feigned cluelessness. “What? He did. He took her in under his emergency custody, and she’s been living with us in the dorms ever since.” Shouto turned a glare at Nighteye. “He got yelled at for doing it, but he did it.”

The tension practically melted out of Hawks’ body, and he turned to Izuku with a smile that seemed real for once.  “I’m proud of you, fledgling.”

Nighteye sighed. “So it’s you I have to thank for his recklessness.”

“I’d say it worked out pretty well,” Hawks waved off dismissively. “The girl has been saved, which is the most important thing, and if she truly was the source of this quirk-destroying drug, then Chisaki doesn’t have access to his supply anymore. He won’t be able to make any more of it.”

“This is true,” Nighteye conceded. “However, we still have many questions. We’re unsure if he’s begun selling the drug. Considering how underwhelming the effects are now, it’s more likely that it’s still in the testing phase. However, if he’s simply distributing less effective samples, old prototypes, in order to draw in followers… We cannot be sure how much of this drug he has stored away.”

Izuku idly wondered if the quirk bullets would destroy all of his quirks or only one of them. ‘I guess it doesn’t matter. Safeguard would protect me from getting shot, and even if it somehow didn’t, Super Regeneration would be able to repair my quirk factor.’

“We’d have to confirm it with the hospital’s sample, but we should be able to test if it’s Eri’s blood in that vial as well. Otherwise, we’re still lacking proof, but Chisaki is bringing in people from across the country and amassing funds. What if the final version of these bullets already exists? What if it’s capable of permanently destroying a person’s quirk and he’s just not prepared to show his hand yet? He could execute any number of devastating plans with something like that at his fingertips.”

‘Meh, it could be worse. The fact that the bullets themselves exist at all is horrifying and he’s going to die for it, don’t get me wrong, but it would honestly be easier for Chisaki to just kill someone. That would still erase that quirk from the world, so what is he even trying to achieve here? I don’t get it.’

“It makes my stomach turn just thinking about it!” Fat Gum cried out. “Let’s go bust down their doors right now!”

“There’s no need to be hasty,” Rock Lock disagreed. “The little girl is safe. Good job on that, by the way, kid. You did the right thing.” The underground hero cast a disapproving look Nighteye’s way. “We need to be careful and make sure they don’t slip away from us now. Don’t waste the opportunity that… What’s your hero name, kid?”

“Themis.”

Rock Lock chuckled. “Fitting. Don’t waste the opportunity that Themis gave us. We’ll only get one shot at this.”

‘Okay, maybe he’s not so bad after all,’ Izuku decided. ‘He probably just has some internalized biases that literally everyone in a quirked society has unless they’re forced to question them. I can’t really fault him for that if no one has shown him why those biases are false.’

“Which brings us to the organizations that the Shie Hassaikai has contacted, as well as their verified properties. Throughout our investigation, we’ve compiled an extensive list. I’ll be asking each of you to investigate certain groups and locations on your own. We need to narrow this list down.”

“Got it. So that’s why we minor heroes have been brought into this too…” Mr. Brave said with a hum. “There’s a connection between each hero’s home territory and the list of locations. You chose us because of our familiarity with those neighborhoods.” 

“I’ll admit that I’m not familiar with how your quirk works, Sir Nighteye, but why not just use Foresight to see what sort of fate awaits us? Wouldn’t that narrow that list down far quicker? Going forward without that knowledge seems irrational to me.”

“I… can’t do that.”

Izuku’s eyes widened, and he briefly glanced at his teammates with barely restrained glee. ‘He’s going to tell us how his quirk works. I’m going to learn exactly what I need to do to keep Nighteye from becoming a threat to us.’

Nigtheye held up a single finger. “My quirk has limitations, the same as any other quirk. Once activated, it has a 24-hour cooldown. Put simply, I can view one hour of a single person’s life once a day. The images appear in my mind, panel by panel, like a flashback, and after using it, it’s like I can watch recorded footage of that person’s life. Think of it that way, However, the entirety of that film plays out from the perspective of the person in question. What I end up seeing is their actions and glimpses of their surrounding environment, and these films do not have any sound to them either.”

“That sounds like more than enough. We could still learn plenty from that. So why can’t you do it?” Aizawa questioned. 

“Well, what if, in the near future, what awaited that person was death? A cruel and merciless death, even. What then?”

‘He’s talking about All Might, isn’t he? I don’t have to worry about him using his quirk on me at all. The last thing he’d want to see is One for All dying with me, so I’m in the clear!’

“I’ve trained my quirk to maximize the success rate of every action I take. I use it to all but ensure victory in battle. It’s not meant to be used to recklessly view situations with so many uncertainties. It would be a waste for me to do so.”

“Huh?! Seeing if we’re gonna die sounds pretty darn useful to me! Then we could come up with a plan to stay alive,” Rock Lock argued.

“I’m not a fortune teller. There’s no guarantee that the fate I see can be avoided.”

“I don’t get it, Nighteye! C’mon, why don’tcha take a look at my future? I’ll avoid whatever life’s got in store for me!”

“I can’t!” Nighteye insisted, head hanging low.

‘It’s even better than I thought,’ Izuku realized with glee. ‘Nighteye is afraid of using his quirk! He won’t use it on anyone he knows, will he?’

Ryukyu cut in smoothly, refocusing the meeting. “Why don’t we get started? There are villains out there that need to be caught. That’s what matters most right now.”

Nighteye jumped on the opportunity to rap things up, standing as he said, “Confirm the Shie Hassaikai’s primary base of operations. Once we’re as sure as we can be, let’s bring this matter to a swift resolution. I thank you for all of your help.”

-

“Man, I can’t believe you saved Eri from someone like that. It’s super manly, Midoribro!”

Izuku chuckled and rubbed at the back of his neck. “It was nothing, really. Just doing what anyone would’ve done.”

“I disagree, kero. Against someone like… him, most people would’ve frozen up or wanted to wait for help. You’re a real hero, Izuku.”

“Yeah! You don’t have to be so humble all the time,” Ochako teased, leaning up against him as they walked toward the dorms.

“It’s cute, though,” Shouto said with a chuckle, lacing his hand with Ochako’s to keep her from leaning too far and falling over.

Fumikage grumbled slightly. “You’re all so bright…”

Everyone laughed, but after they caught their breath, Kirishima’s brows furrowed in contemplation. “It’s super unmanly that Nighteye was upset that you saved Eri though. Like, a hero’s whole job is to save people! That comes before catching a villain, always.”

“It should,” Izuku agreed. “However, heroes are paid on commission. And they’re not paid for how many people they save. Can you guess what they’re paid for?”

“How many villains they arrest,” Tsuyu said with a grimace. “With higher-ranking villains earning them more than the lower rank ones do.”

“That’s… really messed up,” Kirishima mumbled. “If our job isn’t actually saving people, then what’s stopping a hero from arresting some random person for the money?”

“Nothing is. That’s the problem.” Izuku sighed, shaking his head. “I’m hoping to change it, but my mom has been fighting that battle for years, and there’s not been any progress yet.”

“Have you ever wondered why, exactly, my father’s arrest record is so high?” Shouto asked, planting further seeds of doubt in their two friends. They’d already agreed that the odds of converting either Kirishima or Tsuyu were incredibly low, but that didn’t mean they wanted to fight them. If they could just get them to hesitate for long enough that they could escape…

“No way, really?” Ochako gasped, and Izuku was thoroughly impressed with both of his partners’ acting skills. “But isn’t Endeavor the number two hero mostly because of his capture rate?! His popularity is way beneath Hawks and Best Jeanist, and they cause less damage in their fights too!”

“I detest the rotten bastard for a reason. If there was any hero that I could point Stain toward…”

Izuku was pleasantly surprised when neither Tsuyu nor Kirishima protested Shouto’s train of thought, though they didn’t verbally agree with it either. 

“As I thought, the darkest shadows are always hidden behind the brightest of lights.” And now Fumikage was casting doubt on All Might too, albeit subtly. 

‘I have the best friends,’ Izuku thought with a grin.

They parted ways with Tsuyu and Kirishima as they entered the common room, falling back when Izuku saw the shocked face of their resident eavesdropper peeking out from the kitchen.

“Hello, Jirou. I think it’s past time that we had a talk, hm?”

Chapter Text

Izuku held up his hand as Jirou started stammering out excuses. “I’m not angry. I know that you can’t really help how much you overhear, and the glass of water in your hands makes it clear that it wasn’t intentional. Just don’t go spreading around information about an active investigation, okay?”

Of course, that didn’t change the fact that she had been trying to listen in on them on several other instances, but he was willing to pretend he didn’t know about that for the sake of having a civil conversation.

Jirou nodded immediately. “I won’t. I do want to talk to you about some of what I heard though, and I don’t think you’ll want to do it here.”

Izuku’s eyes narrowed. ‘We didn’t say anything too incriminating this time, but she might have heard something more suspicious before today. My question is why Danger Sense didn’t warn me about it, unless…’

He took a better look at Jirou’s expression then. There was determination written all over her face, and beneath that, he could see anger and disgust. ‘She heard about Eri, didn’t she?’

“Very well. We can discuss this in my room if you don’t mind?”

Jirou shook her head and followed him up, nervously eyeing Ochako, Shouto, and Fumikage, who stayed right by his side. “You’ve got some loyal friends, huh?”

‘Is it just me, or does she sound a bit jealous of that fact?’ 

Once his door was closed behind them, Jirou visibly steeled herself and said, “I’ll cut to the chase. I want to join you all.”

Izuku hesitated. He knew that they’d be doing some more recruiting through the Scales of Justice, through the guise of the hero team they originally intended to become, but having Jirou so close to them was dangerous. It would mean virtually no verbal communication could take place safely.

“Are you sure? We’d be happy to have you, but you’ve always struck me as more of a loner.”

Jirou laughed at that. “No. I just got used to being alone because no one likes the girl who knows all their secrets without even meaning to. Especially when all it takes is listening to their heartbeat, and I can’t exactly turn my quirk off.”

Izuku froze, mouth going dry as he realized just how dangerous Jirou really was.

“See? Like that. Don’t have a heart attack, Midoriya. I already know, and here I am, asking to join you anyway. I want in. Let me help you change things.”

“And why do you want to join us?” Shouto asked warily.

“I’ve always wanted to touch people’s hearts. I want to make them smile, to make them feel like everything is going to be okay. First, I wanted to be a musician to achieve that. Then I wanted to be a hero for the same reason. Then I decided I could be both. Now, I just… I can’t ignore the things I’ve been hearing around here. I can’t ignore the shit that Bakugo and Mineta are both getting away with. Becoming the type of hero that makes people afraid, exactly the kind of hero that UA seems to want us to be, would be the exact opposite of everything I’d ever dreamed of, and I’ve come to realize that, more than anyone else, the villains need saving too, don’t they? They need saving from people who keep getting away with infraction after infraction just because they have useful quirks. People shouldn’t have to resort to villainy in the first place! That’s why you’re doing this, isn’t it?”

Everyone in the room relaxed more and more as Jirou spoke. “Yes, it is,” Izuku confirmed for her. “But this won’t be easy, you understand? We’ll be labeled as villains. We’ll work with them. And one day, we may have to fight our classmates, no matter how hard we try to avoid it. Are you prepared for that?”

“I am.” Neither Jirou’s voice nor her expression had a hint of hesitation in them. “I’ve had enough of listening on the sidelines.”

Izuku stepped forward, a bright grin on his face as he activated Telepathic Connection. ‘Then welcome to the Scales of Justice, Jirou. It’s an honor to have you.’ 

‘Oh, this is cool. You’re hiding all sorts of tricks that even I didn’t know about, huh?’ 

‘You have no idea. Speaking of, we’ll need to make a pact of silence after this; one more literal than most are aware I’m capable of. Will that be a problem?’ 

Jirou shook her head. ‘Not at all.’ A grin tugged at her lips as she looked out at the others, saying, “You can call me Kyouka. We’re all teammates, after all.”

Izuku now had another one of the students with the best spy potential in the entire school working with him. On top of that, he knew more details about, and thus how to work around, Eraserhead and Nighteye’s quirks.

‘Today was a good day.’

Now all he had to do was send Himiko a status update.

-

Mei had, as per usual, revamped Kyouka’s costume in no time. Their newest teammate was visibly pleased with her new cyberpunk visor, and her mask, which was pitch black until she spoke, lit up with colorful bars that went further up her mask depending on her volume. It also acted as a directional speaker for her voice, not unlike Present Mic’s. 

Kyouka’s costume was also reinforced, as was standard for them, but the aesthetic of it was left untouched. The only change to what was already there was the addition of golden scales emblazoned on the shoulders of her leather jacket.

“It’s amazing, as always. I don’t know how to thank you enough, Mei.”

Mei scoffed dismissively, waving her hand. “You don’t have to thank me, Zu. Just keep letting me make awesome babies for you! You always have such fun ideas!” Golden eyes locked onto Kyouka. “Speaking of, Let me know how the mask works for you! I’ve never made any sound-based babies before, especially not one that has to function as a gas mask as well, but it was a fun challenge!”

“Will do,” Kyouka agreed with a nod.

“I’ll see you again soon, Zu! Come to me directly whenever the next member of your little cult joins.”

Power Loader’s sigh could be heard from clear across the room. “Please stop calling their team that, Hatsume.”

“Yeah, yeah.” She winked at Izuku before turning back to her station and pulling out several blueprints. “I’m almost finished with those super special babies you requested, by the way! It’s a bit outside my usual field, but never let it be said that Mei Hatsume can’t do anything she sets her mind to!”

The closer he looked at what she’d figured out and was in the process of making, the happier he was with it. A massive grin spread across Izuku’s face. “Thanks, Mei! You’re a huge help.”

“Don’t mention it!” She lowered her voice to a whisper, glancing in Power Loader’s direction before she said, “Seriously, don’t.”

Izuku just nodded, walking out of the lab with Kyouka close behind him. He pulled out his phone and clicked on “Camie’s” contact.

The gear for you guys is almost done

Just lmk how & we’ll get them to you

It’s all figured out dw! :D

Just let us know when!

Til then, focus on showing that jerk who’s boss >:3c

Izuku snorted as he tucked his phone into his pocket, humming softly to himself.

‘It won’t be long now. There are only so many locations left for the heroes to investigate; we’ll be fighting Overhaul soon.’

He was practically vibrating with anticipation for it.

-

The morning of the Shie Hassaikai raid, Izuku stood strong next to the members of his team that were present. As they debriefed at the police station, he could see the heroes reevaluating them while they watched the Scales of Justice move seamlessly with one another.

“We’ve got a list of all the Shie Hassaikai punks’ quirks that we could find, so be sure to study it quickly!” The head officer of the raid passed out said lists, and Izuku idly noted that they had nothing on the Eight Bullets that Toga had told him about and Eri had described the quirks of.

‘Hm. To tell them or not to tell them.’

In the end, he decided against it. Izuku had no real reason to have access to information that the police didn’t, and even if he omitted the names of the Eight Bullets and only shared what Eri told him, it wasn’t something that he wanted to risk.

“We’re hoping to catch every lowlife there as quickly as possible! Don’t let a single one of them escape.”

“They aren’t wasting time!” Kirishima said with a wide grin that was more nervous than confident.

“You sure are a morning person,” Amajiki muttered. 

“Man, I’m getting all jittery!” Ochako’s statement could easily be taken as her being nervous, but Izuku knew better. He saw the same fire in her eyes that was present during the sports festival and when they decided to make the jump into villainy; she was just as excited about this as he was.

Shouto’s grin was unhinged in a way that seemed oddly familiar to Izuku, but he couldn’t quite place it. “They don’t stand a chance against all of us.”

“We will be one with the shadows.”

While the heroes had narrowed down the location of the Shie Hassaikai, they had very little insider information to go off of. There was a secret passageway that they could use to enter the underground labyrinth beneath the building, but the lackey that Nighteye had peered into the future of didn’t get to show them much of the base before Overhaul, in his rising fury with everything lately, killed him. Nighteye was so rattled by this that it took him a couple of days before he shared this information with the other heroes taking part in the raid.

“First it’s detective work and then it’s a full-on police operation. There’s something new every day, kero.”

Ryukyu chuckled. “They didn’t teach us about this at school, so I struggled in the beginning. I’m glad that you’re able to see this side of heroism now rather than later.”

“The pros are all so calm! I guess they’re just used to it.” Kirishima looked around, squinting his eyes as he said, “Hey, is that old guy not showing up to this? Seems kinda weird that he’s not around.”

“Sadly, other duties intervened,” Nighteye answered. 

The lead officer for the raid nodded. “Tsukauchi learned of a big development in the League of Villains case. He was torn up about not being here, but we’ve got plenty of people as it is. It’s no great loss.”

“I see…” Izuku mumbled. ‘I hope that the League is okay. I know that Himiko and Twice are stuck with the Shie Hassaikai right now, but what if the others were intercepted when they went to wait for the raid to start? No, then Tsukauchi and the old guy would definitely be here. There must be something else going on.’

Kirishima turned to Izuku with a bright grin. “Maybe the Shie Hassaikai and the League will go down hard today!”

Izuku gave him one in return, fake but so practiced that no one could tell, and said, “We can only hope!”

“Heroes. They’re probably gonna put up a fight, y’know? So if you spot any one of them resisting or trying anything funny, I’m counting on you guys to deal with it! We’re up against a mafia group that’s somehow survived this long, so don’t let your guards down for a second. Get in there and do what you’ve gotta do. Move out!”

-

“Once I read off the warrant, things are gonna start moving. Let’s try to end this quickly!”

“Yeah, yeah, we get it. You don’t trust us.”

Hawks laughed. “Lighten up, Rock Lock. It’s just protocol.”

The lead officer went to press the buzzer at the gate, but before his finger could even touch the button, rubble and a fist exploded outward. 

“It’s kinda early for so many guests.” Another swing had several police officers being blown back, riot shields only blocking so much of the impact.

“Help them!” Aizawa called out, but there was no need. Before his teacher could even finish the order, Blackwhip had snaked around the officers’ waists and begun to gently lower them to the ground. Izuku kept the quirk active, glancing Fumikage’s way with a grin.

They’d discovered something incredibly interesting while working on Total Eclipse. Dark Shadow was highly resistant to physical damage to begin with, but when they were wrapped up in Blackwhip, they became just as impervious to it as the tendrils were. Against strength types like Rikiya Katsukame, the three of them were unstoppable. The fact that Katsukame needed physical contact with his targets to become stronger was just the icing on the cake; Blackwhip would keep him from draining Dark Shadow’s energy as well.

Dark Shadow was already darting out from underneath Fumikage’s cloak before Izuku could say a word. Blackwhip snaked around them as they met Katsukame head-on, stopping him in his tracks. Izuku allowed more and more tendrils of darkness to join Dark Shadow, further strengthening them until Katsukame was partially embedded in the now cratered earth beneath him. 

“No… No, no, no!” Katsukame screamed. “I won’t go down like this!” He struggled and writhed, but Dark Shadow held strong. Izuku’s eyes narrowed at the glint of metal he could see peeking out of the man’s pocket, and a single whip grabbed the syringe and quickly retreated with it, passing it off to a nearby police officer without a second glance.

“My best guess is that he was hoping to rely on Trigger here, but it wouldn’t hurt to analyze that later.” Given Katsukame’s devastated expression, Izuku could only assume that he was correct. “Well?” he asked with a cocked eyebrow. “Are you guys gonna cuff him, or…?”

His question seemed to break the officers out of their shock, and they quickly moved to get quirk-suppressant cuffs on the Eight Bullets member. Izuku and Dark Shadow eased up as soon as the villain was secure. Aizawa sighed as he watched the sentient shadow and Izuku fist bump.

“You children are going to give me grey hairs, I swear.”

The heroes all moved at once, rushing through the open gates and immediately meeting resistance. It was nothing but low-level thugs, posing nowhere near the threat level that Katsukame had the potential to, but Izuku and his team were on high alert just in case.

Fat Gum was clearly tense as he looked around. “Don’t you think this feels kinda suspicious?” 

“Something about this doesn’t feel right,” Rock Lock agreed. “But we have no choice. We’ve gotta keep moving.”

“It was like they were waiting for us,” Amajiki muttered. “Maybe we have a leak? But everyone seems pretty trustworthy…”

Izuku barely bit back a laugh at the irony of that. ‘We definitely do have a leak, though not in the way you’re thinking.’

The lead officer shook his head. “A leak? Nah. If we did, then they’d be doing a better job of dealing with us. Besides, it’s common knowledge that the yakuza tend to act with a real sense of unity.”

“The underlings exchange sake cups and pledge loyalty to the bosses. Even with their fall from grace, these gangs have always emphasized loyalty above all else. All this pushback and the fact that we haven’t seen Chisaki or either of his officers yet means that they’re probably using these distractions to cut and run.”

That was exactly what Izuku suspected as well. ‘Run as far as you like; you won’t get away, Overhaul. And even if you do, the League will make sure that you don’t get far.’ 

“Loyalty?! That’s a bunch of crap! Leaving the tough stuff to your followers while running away isn’t manly at all!”

“No doubt!” Fat Gum agreed.

“We’re here.”

Everyone paused at Nighteye’s words, turning to face a potted plant sitting in an alcove.

“There should be a mechanism that opens the way down. We just have to press these planks in the right order and…” The back wall of the alcove slowly began to slide open.

“This is like some sort of ninja hideout!” Bubble Girl exclaimed. 

Centipeder nodded. “If you hadn’t seen it, then we’d have no idea where to go. Now we just need to watch out for unfamiliar quirks.“

Three members of the Shie Hassaikai lept out as soon as the secret entrance was fully open, and Bubble Girl and Centipeder held them off as the rest of the heroes pressed forward.

‘Well, this is convenient. They must think that we know more than we do; the lackeys are leading us right to where Overhaul is by guarding his escape.’

“Their meeting room isn’t much farther now!"

The group made their way down a staircase and into the hallway, only to freeze at the wall blocking them off from going any further.

“It’s a dead-end! What’s the deal, Nighteye?”

Togata turned to Rock Lock and said, “I’ll take a look!” He phased through the wall, and a muffled, “I thought so,” could be heard from where Izuku was standing. When Togata stepped back through, it was with a furrowed brow.

“The way forward is here, just like Nighteye saw! This wall is the only thing in our way. It’s a thick one, though.”

“Chisaki probably did this with his quirk,” Rock Lock muttered.

Fat Gum’s eyes narrowed. “How sneaky…”

“We’ve come too far to let this stop us!” Izuku cried out, green lightning flickering around him as he activated One for All. Kirishima clearly had the same idea as him, turning his arms into jagged rock as he swung a fist forward.

Together, they blasted a hole through the wall. Shouto froze the sides of it to keep the structure from falling on top of them, and just as they went to move forward, the floor began to wobble. Izuku looked up, shocked as he watched the entire hall twist and morph like something out of a horror movie.

‘No one in the Shie Hassaikai should be capable of doing this! The closest one would be…’ Izuku froze. ‘Katsukame had access to Trigger, so why wouldn’t Mimic? Damn it all!’

His information on their quirks would only go so far when Trigger could completely change how they worked.

“I was all set to handle some obstacles, but the whole basement? It’s gotta be taking a toll on this guy’s stamina. Can you cancel it, Eraser?!”

Aizawa shook his head after briefly glancing in Fat Gum’s direction. “Not unless I catch sight of his real body.”

“The passageway keeps shifting around… Chisaki is gonna escape, at this rate,” Amajiki murmured, shaking like a leaf. What’s our next move here? We’ve gotta be quick… No, it’s hopeless, isn’t it? We’re totally doomed.”

“Tamaki! This isn’t like you; you’re Suneater, after all!” Togata rested his hand on Amajiki’s shoulder. “We can make it through this! All these twisting halls don’t matter as long as we know our way to the target, and we’ve got a good idea of where Chisaki will be! I can make it through!”

“Lemillion!” Nighteye cried out. “Don’t do this! He’s too dangerous!”

“This is a race against the clock, and they know it too. We don’t have time! I’ll see you guys on the other side!”

“Mirio…” Tamaki whispered.

The majority of the group dropped down when Mimic opened up a hole in the floor beneath them, but Izuku, Ochako, Fumikage, and Hawks could all fly. Shouto only blinked before he propelled himself back up a story with his ice. Then he launched his ice forward with a considering hum, and while Mimic was strong enough to break it with some effort, Shouto could hold him back for long enough to give them a window of opportunity.

“I’ll fly forward with the fledglings! You guys be careful.”

“Look after them, Hawks!” Aizawa barked out, and then the five of them were off.

Izuku pointedly didn’t use Blackwhip, knowing that he could bring them all back up if he wanted to. His excuse of the quirk being affected by his emotions would be useful here if they didn’t just believe he made an error in all the chaos.

“Why didn’t you try freezing the hallway sooner?” Hawks asked. He didn’t sound disapproving, merely curious, cocking an eyebrow at Shouto as they all continued forward.

“There were too many people with us. The risk of me catching someone in my ice by accident was too high for me to risk it, and Tsuyu would’ve been heavily impacted by the cold too.”

“Good call. The hallways were too crowded for me to fly forward too, but now we’ll get there in no time.”

Ochako was the only one of them that wasn’t used to keeping up with Hawks’ speed, but between Izuku’s Telekinesis aiding her and her training with the rest of the Scales of Justice, she was right behind the rest of them.

They followed the sound of fighting and quickly arrived to witness a tense standoff between Overhaul, Nemoto, and Togata. Both Overhaul and Nemoto turned to face the five of them, and Overhaul’s face was overcome with rage the second he laid eyes on Izuku.

“YOU!”

Before Izuku could even blink, Nemoto had raised a gun and pulled the trigger. The only thing he could think as the, most likely quirk-erasing, bullet flew toward him was that he was finally going to get to test Super Regeneration.

‘I could always use Barrier, but where’s the fun in that? I want Overhaul to think he’s won before I utterly destroy him.’ 

Hawks knew that Izuku was capable of handling himself –and he’d been told about Barrier by Fumikage and Shouto– so he focused on neutralizing Overhaul and left Izuku to it. Izuku made the first of many errors that day in that moment; he forgot that Togata had only seen a glimpse of his abilities.

Suddenly, Togata was between Izuku and the bullet and Izuku couldn’t breathe.

“No…”

“It’s alright, my little kouhai,” Togata chuckled. “You’ve got so much potential. I just… couldn’t stand to see it taken from you. And I’m sorry, you know? I should’ve helped you save her back then. No matter what everyone else has said about my future, you’ve blown me clear out of the water. I still have… a long way to go before I can call myself a hero.”

“Nooo!” Nemoto wailed. “I’m sorry boss; I’ve failed you! I missed that brat!”

Izuku and his team ignored the villain –he was pinned down by rubble and not going anywhere any time soon– and joined Hawks in his fight against Overhaul. Izuku focused on driving him into a corner with Blackwhip, Ochako used all the rubble Overhaul was creating against him, Shouto flung daggers of ice at him, and Fumikage and Dark Shadow worked together with the former performing first aid on Togata and the latter guarding them all with rubble shields that prevented Overhaul from touching them directly.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly, but Izuku was too rattled by Togata’s actions to notice one critical detail.

The feathers that Hawks kept launching at Overhaul weren’t being destroyed by his quirk. They were being absorbed. They weren’t the only things that were, either.

There was an explosion of red. Overhaul destroyed and reformed himself, and Izuku gaped at the monster that stood before them.

Bright red wings spread and Overhaul took to the sky, racing toward Izuku with gleaming claws made of ice at his fingertips. Izuku barely jerked back in time, watching as a single strand of green hair fluttered to the ground from Overhaul’s attempt to maim him.

‘Well, at least Super Regeneration was still on. It’s definitely staying that way,’ Izuku thought hysterically.

“You ruined me,” Overhaul hissed. “I’m going to kill you!”

And fuck, Izuku really didn’t want to find out if he could.

Chapter Text

I apologize for this and know that this isn't the update that you were all hoping for, but I'm afraid that I'm going to have to discontinue this work. I've fallen out of the bnha fandom, to the point where even just reading the manga or watching the anime can feel exhausting, though I continue to do so with the hope that it'll eventually culminate in what the series kept hinting at but constantly backs away from. But with such a large story as this and with so much left to go, the very thought of trying to go back to writing this is immensely stressful.

I didn't want you all to be waiting on updates forever or not see the new abandoned and discontinued tag, so I wanted to let everyone know this way. I may still complete Phoenix Rising for those of you waiting on that one (I only had a few chapters of it left anyway and I'm hoping the Dabi scene in season 6 will be enough motivation for me to finish it, though I will be sure to do something like this for it too if that is not the case), but otherwise, I'm finished writing for bnha. Demon slayer is just something I've come to enjoy working with much more, and I hope you can all understand! Thank you for all the love and support you've given this story. It did more for me as a writer than you can possibly imagine.