Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A tall man was sitting in a large red cushioned seat inside a small private dressing room. He was hunched over with his face buried in his scarred bare hands. Currently, a woman with hazelnut-colored hair was combing his green curly locks.

"Tell me what you're most stressed about, Izu." She insisted.

The man sighed before raising his head, both to speak and to give her more room to work. "I-" He took a deep breath.

"Sweetie, I understand your uncomfortable-ness in social situations but you have done this before many times." The woman said with a tone that was both informative and gentle.

"I know. It's just... B-Besides being on camera, I'll have to talk about last night." The man sighed and lowered his head, but this time, his hands fell between his knees.

The woman nodded.

He hadn't even recovered enough to tell her personally about it. As soon as he got home from his mission, he fell into her arms and they fell asleep not long after.

It wasn't even a full night's sleep later when they had to wake up for this.

Suddenly, a knock broke their gentle atmosphere and a voice quickly followed through the wood door.

"Deku, you're on in five." A man's voice announced.

The man's wife turned his chair around to face her. "Look at me, Izuku." She directed as she planted her palms on his freckled cheeks.

He obeyed silently, eyes widened at her strength. Not just physical strength but her strength in handling situations like this. They've been together since high school not even ten years prior, and although they've pledged to be equals, he can't help but feel how much stronger she is. Even if his Quirk is more strength-enhancing than hers.

"You have done the impossible. You've defeated gods before and you've conquered unimaginable demons. Part of the journey is sharing the experiences. This day will help others in tracking down the rest of that organization and put an end to it. One interview means nothing to you." She said.

She was very vague, but it was enough to make her husband smile.

"Thanks, Ochako." He said gently as he leaned in and kissed her lips.

He stood up and approached the door, still keeping his eyes on her.

"And once we're done here, since we both have the day off, it looks like we can finish...sleeping." Her speech was interrupted by a yawn and a brief stretch.

Izuku smiled again and nodded in agreement before stepping out and walking to the studio floor.

The echo of a talk show host's announcements rang through the halls and especially inside the studio as Izuku quietly made his way to the edge of the floor, outside of view of an audience and cameras he could barely see through the bright lights.

"Now without further ado, ladies and gentlemen. Here to comment on the most recent raid, please welcome, Professional Hero DEKU!"

Shifting his collar and wiping his forehead, Izuku marched forward, waving at the cheering audience and giving his best iconic hero's smile as he made his way toward a small couch and a desk where the host normally sat.

They shook hands and greeted before taking place at their respective seats.

"Welcome, Deku! It's such a treat to have you on the show today. We get so many fan letters asking about you and that contagious smile of yours!" The host said happily.

Izuku chuckled. "Yeah, well... Y'know..."

The host laughed loudly. "We all know you're not the best at interviews and I completely understand. One thing they don't teach you in hero school is how to respond to the media." He quipped. The audience responded with laughter.

Izuku smiled. This host took a lot of inspiration from American TV hosts who were much more personable with their guests than some older, stricter Japanese broadcasters over the years. Thankfully for Izuku, it was easier to loosen up here.

"Now, last night, you were one of six heroes and fifty police officers sent in to a supposed hideout of the Purity Alliance." He said.

Izuku sat up. "Y-Yes, that's right."

"I understand that must have been quite the scare for you. We all heard rumors about this particular villainous group. What did you see that night? Of course only share what the police have authorized to be shared." He added.

In that millisecond of time, the hero's mind flashed back to that night.

Izuku was suiting up for the mission alongside his friends and fellow heroes Eijiro Kirishima, Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu, Fumikage Tokoyami, and a couple more he'd become acquainted with over his career.

They each had strong Quirks but Fumikage was a bit of a wild card thrown in, having long range and short range attacks and defense. One thing that Izuku noticed about their makeshift team was that each of them was bulletproof at least.

Even Fumikage's Dark Shadow Quirk could block most bullets and slow them down enough to lose their lethal power, since the Quirk was a living tangible mass rather than anything entirely physical.

Izuku had done his research about this group they were going to investigate, and if necessary, apprehend. The Purity Alliance was a nasty organization that believed Quirks meant that humanity was a step away from becoming gods. And the only way to reach that final step is to use Quirk DNA to breed the "perfect human". However, their methods included kidnapping innocent women with powerful Quirks in their blood, impregnating them with the Alliance's own soldiers with powerful Quirks, and raising the children to be soldiers, with Quirks treated as weapons of mass destruction.

This had existed for over ten years and they were responsible for the kidnappings of several women ranging from their fifties to even minors. And long enough for a couple generations to take place. The first children born from this nightmare are now believed to be the Alliance's current army of soldiers.

Whoever they are, however they were raised, they chose to be what they are now. And Izuku and this team had to treat them as hostiles.

With a warrant from the department the police officers were joining them from, the teams assembled just outside of the warehouse district not far from the city.

Conversations were kept to a minimum and a low volume as the heroes were ordered to take the main entrance to the supposed warehouse the enemy was nested in.

As Izuku, Eijiro, and the others prepared their battle stances and activated their Quirks, the officers circled the building armed with battering tools and guns for the other doors.

"Kawagoe Police Department! Surrender now and come out with your hands up!" The commissioner shouted as he waved the warrant in his hand.

One police captain stood beside the commissioner. His eyes glowed in the dark a distinct red. "Three hostiles. Eight hostages. Four are children. They heard the declaration."

The commissioner nodded to his captain. "Do they have guns?"

"...No. I see none in their hands but they are prepared for a fight. They're spread out with the hostages in the center of the room."

"Alright. Teams, engage! Heroes, hold your position until I say." The commissioner ordered through his radio.

The teams of officers blasted through the doors and quickly pinned down the men.

One of them began to run. He jumped from the balcony he was standing on and quickly grabbed the closest child that he could.

Before any police officers could react fast enough, his forearm down to his fingertips suddenly lengthened and thinned out to a fine sharp point.

"Move, and I slice his throat." He declared.

The child in his arms at the edge of the blade whimpered as his cheeks stained with his tears.

"They've got us stuck, sir." One of the officers radioed to the commissioner.

"Send in the heroes." The captain suggested.

The police leader nodded and radioed for the Hero Team.

"You are clear to engage. Deku, can you move faster than a knife on someone's throat?"

Izuku felt his Quirk surge through his veins. "Yes, commissioner. I'll deal with him."

In a flash, the six heroes blasted the door down. In an even brighter flash, time slowed down to a crawl as Izuku dashed from the opened doorway towards the center.

Before the villain's sharpened hand could cut through the child's skin, the green hero grabbed it and swung him around, separating him from the hostage.

The villain flipped over and landed on his back.

Izuku marched up to him and stared him down. "You're under arrest."

"Not yet." The villain suddenly spun around, swinging his legs into Izuku's knees, knocking him back while the man flipped back on his two feet. He was dressed all in black, same as his partners. His hair was brown and military-short with golden streaks in it wherever the light hit his scalp.

"I'd suggest you surrender now before I really hurt you." Izuku said.

"Make me!" The man shouted as he fearlessly charged the hero with his arm still sharpened.

Izuku's Quirk powered him up again and he ducked, dodging the blade and sent his fist into the villain's back.

To his shock however, his fist traveled much deeper than he thought possible, going right through the man's chest and out through his breast.

It felt like he punched a sand castle at the beach.

In disgust, he ripped his arm back and watched as the holes suddenly sealed up with a dust-like substance.

The villain smiled and turned towards him. "Nice try. But punching something you don't like is a bit outdated!"

The sound of Fumikage's voice broke their brief chat. "Deku, DUCK!"

Instantly obeying his teammate, Izuku dropped to the ground as a large black hand pinned the villain to the ground.

"Hoshi! Now!" The villain under the Dark Shadow's hand screamed.

One of the villains not yet restrained by the police retracted a hidden pistol in his sleeve and blasted a large pipe up at the ceiling. Although the police quickly pinned him down and took the gun, the old pipe burst and dropped hundreds of gallons of old water down directly over Izuku's location.

People lost their grip on the floor in the chaos. Meanwhile Izuku noticed the villain began to disintegrate into the flowing waters until Dark Shadow held nothing to the wet floor.

The villain's body turned to dust and flowed in several directions, most through a drainpipe.

Izuku had no idea what to make of it. One thing he assumed was that man was the leader of their operation here and they had a suicide pact in case there was no escape.

But suicide is never something a villain this powerful would consider so easily.

He was able to withstand the power of One For All at a controlled 20%. And he regenerated from it.

Eijiro walked over and helped Izuku to his feet while the police began to escort the hostages to safety and the villains into an armored truck.

It wasn't long before Izuku went home via the late train, entered their apartment, and hugged his Ochako tightly.

"Excuse me, Deku?" The talk show host asked.

Izuku had no idea how many milliseconds had passed since remembering the incident.

"Oh, s-sorry. It was rather quick... They weren't organized enough to make it a hostage situation that would have lasted probably the whole night. Through the efforts of the police, they were able to break up the villains' teamwork and we had them all pinned in no time. Eight hostages now safe."

He was told by the commissioner and his agency that he couldn't share details about it just yet.

"Of course." The host said. "But what did you see that night?" He emphasized.

Izuku gulped and turned his eyes away from the host for a moment before answering.

Chapter Text

Katsuma's train took him from the ship toward Tokyo. As he waited in his seat with his luggage, he continuously checked his phone for updates.

He had been keeping track of the hero Deku's latest adventures. The Hero Commission Agency kept placing him wherever sightings of the Purity Alliance happened. Anywhere suspected Alliance activity was taking place.

Having less than an hour left, he checked his suitcase and personal belongings for inventory. The train halted for another stop as he did so.

Some people left while more got on. Two people sat in the bench beside him. A woman with dark brown hair that curled up like an apple. And a boy who could be her son, about Katsuma's age, who sat right next to him with a less-than-pleased look on his face. Either in a bad mood, or everything seemed to annoy him at once.

It made Katsuma shift in his seat a little uncomfortably. He decided to ignore the two and go back to his belongings. Checking his red shoes, he glanced over and realized that the boy next to him had the exact same red shoes on. Tall, going over the ankles and pants, with black laces and a white trim for the bottom.

They weren't the coolest of shoes, but Katsuma got them solely because they were the shoes of his favorite hero Deku. Not even his merchandise but quite literally the shoes he wears under his support gear for his costume.

Katsuma sat up and smiled at the boy. Maybe he could break some ice and become friends with him.

The boy's eyes looked over, not really moving his head. Although he didn't look quite as irritated at Katsuma, his look didn't quite go away either.

"Where did you get your shoes from?" Katsuma asked.

The boy raised his eyebrow.

"He's talking to you, Kota. Answer him." His mother nudged.

The boy sighed. "None of your business."

"Kota!" His mother turned towards him and frowned. "He got them because of his favorite hero."

Now the boy, Kota, turned back to her with daggers in his eyes. "Shino!" He snapped.

"Me too!" Katsuma smiled wide and raised his foot to show off one of his shoes.

"Big deal. Everyone knows who he is now." Kota rolled his eyes.

Katsuma's smile dropped. Was it worth it to make friends with this stranger?

"Where are you off to, might I ask?" The woman questioned politely. Keeping this conversation must have meant that she didn't want to give up on at least being nice to Katsuma.

"Hmm? Oh. I'm going to stay with my grandparents for a few days while I take the UA High entrance exam!" He said confidently.

Kota chuckled. "Oh really? You?"

"You don't know anything about me." Katsuma frowned.

"I know that you're a fanboy. And fanboys are always the first to drop once they realize how tough hero life can actually be." The boy smirked. He tightened his hat over his dark spiked hair and sat back.

Katsuma felt his cheeks blush a little as he struggled to say anything back. "Deku was a fanboy, wasn't he?"

"Yeah well he also had an impressive Quirk and the ability to adapt to any situation. What do you have?" Kota asked.

Katsuma knew that if he answered, it would just become a joke. Still, he sat up in his seat and said boldly. "Cell Activation."

Kota lurched forward and laughed for a moment. "Cell Activation." He chuckled again. "You think you have what it takes?"

"That's enough." His mother-figure slapped him in the back of the head.

"Ow!" He groaned and rubbed his head in response.

"I'm sorry about my nephew. He's just stressed about today because he's also taking the exam." She explained.

Katsuma nodded. "I can imagine... It is a pretty big day."

Kota huffed. "One of the most important days of my life. Do not mess it up for me."

"Believe me, I'll stay out of your way." Katsuma sighed.

"You should be more kind to this boy. It's not every day you meet a fan of Deku like yourself. What would he think?" Shino said through his mind, using her telepathic Quirk to send her nephew that message.

"No telepathy, Shino!" Kota snapped at her.

Katsuma looked at her again. A telepathic Quirk? And her civilian outfit.

"Are you Mandalay from the Pussycats?!" He asked excitedly.

Kota groaned and sat back.

"Y-Yes I am! I'm surprised anyone would know who I am." She smiled.

"I'm... Yes, I'm a fanboy. I know lots of heroes. I read all about them. Especially the ones that worked with Deku before." Katsuma said.

Shino smiled. "It's nice to meet a fan. And if Kota was in a better mood, he'd be happy to meet another fan of Deku. Maybe once you both pass the exam, you can talk more about that!"

"Ain't gonna happen." Kota said, shooting daggers at Katsuma through his eyes.

The boy swallowed and gripped his luggage. Not long after, the train reached the right station and all three gathered their items and walked off together. Although, Kota grabbed his things from his aunt and walked off faster.

Upon exiting the train and looking out, Katsuma could see the city of Tokyo booming with people rushing to go places. Some used Quirks to fly around while others simply followed the crowd. And in the distance, surrounded by forest sat UA High itself.

His jaw stuck open in wonder and awe as he stepped out into the city facing his future.

"This is it... I'm one step closer!" He smiled big and marched straight to the school gate.

Kota and Shino were already inside. "I'll wait inside with the teachers. Meet me here once the exam is over." The woman told him, patting his head.

Kota sighed. "Okay."

Shino felt tears in her eyes and hugged him tightly. "I'm so proud of you! If only your parents could see this day."

Katsuma lowered his head and pretended he didn't hear that as he walked on.

"I'm finally here... UA..." He looked up at the tall buildings above his head. Registration and check in was just inside.

Just as he was about to enter, a tall middle-aged man stepped out of the same door and smacked him off his feet.

Yet Katsuma didn't feel himself hit the ground. He opened his eyes to see a large scarf wrapped around his body, being held by the same man.

"Apologies for that. You came in rather quickly. However. Those doors are glass, y'know. You could have also been looking."

Katsuma met eyes with the man and chuckled nervously. "R-Right! Sorry sir."

"You can stand up straight on your own. You didn't fall far." He said.

Katsuma looked down and surely, he felt stupid. His knees were only slightly bent, same as his back.

"Daddy! Let that boy go! He hasn't even taken the entrance exam yet!" Their attention turned to a beautiful teenage girl with long, silver hair, red glistening eyes, and a single medium sized horn on the right side of her forehead. She was dressed in gym clothes, which were a little tight for her figure.

Katsuma chuckled nervously as the man's attention turned back to him. "Stand up."

He did as he was told, straightening his back and letting the capturing scarf slide off.

"Where've you been?" The man then asked the girl, seemingly forgetting that Katsuma existed two seconds ago.

"Changing! Our place isn't exactly around the corner from here either, Dad." She huffed. "What do you think?" She asked as she struck a pose, lifting her leg.

"Are you trying to pass an exam or flirt with some boys?" The man sighed and pinched the skin between his eyebrows.

"Maybe I wanna do both." She giggled.

"Not gonna happen. You need to keep a focused mind on one goal, understand?" He asked.

Katsuma decided that was enough eavesdropping on people's conversations with their family and excused himself to go check in. However, as he walked away he noticed she was also wearing large red shoes that almost seemed to clash with the rest of her look. Unmistakable.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say that was Eraserhead." He said to himself as he left to go change.

Chapter Text

Katsuma now stood, having changed into red gym clothes to fit with his shoes, staring right up at the large gate entrance to one of UA's mock landscape training grounds.

After the orientation and written portion of the entrance exam, he was directed here randomly with a group of teenagers like him. All there for the same purpose.

Some people didn't look very friendly either. It didn't fit the description of what a true hero should look like. Still, Katsuma knew they were all still young and had a long journey ahead.

But it wouldn't hurt to maybe give a smile or something of support.

Whenever he accidentally met eyes with anyone, he would smile big and give a thumbs up.

Then, he turned and nearly bumped into Kota, who was busy stretching his legs. He was wearing something that resembled a diver's wetsuit.

The stood up tall and glared at Katsuma. "Like I said, stay out of my way."

This attracted the attention of Eri who jumped between the two boys. "Hey Kota, be nice! The guy's just giving everyone smiles." She said sternly.

Kota's eyes grew wide and his cheeks blushed a little. "F-Fine! Whatever."

Eri huffed then turned toward Katsuma.

"Sorry about him. Wowee you're tall!" She leaned back in exaggeration at Katsuma's height.

He chuckled and itched at the back of his scalp. "Yeah well it's a part of my Quirk's effects on my body."

"I'm Eri." She smiled and held out her hand for them to shake.

Katsuma smiled and shook it firmly. "I'm Katsuma."

"I see you've met Kota." She darted her eyes in the boy's direction.

He wasn't wearing his hat, exposing his brown spiked hair in the sunlight.

"Don't introduce me like we're going to be friends." Kota frowned and walked away.

"He can be a bit of a sourpuss." Eri whispered.

Katsuma cleared his throat. "It seems like you guys have a history together."

"Hm? Oh yeah. We've known each other for years. We met at the Hero Deku's wedding to the Hero Uravity." She explained.

"How did you get in to that?!" Katsuma asked excitedly.

"My dad's the pro-hero Eraserhead. And my godfather is Lemillion." She declared proudly, planting her fists on her hips.

"That's amazing! And Kota's aunt is Mandalay from the Wild! Wild! Pussycats!" Katsuma added.

"Did you see them earlier?"

"Yeah, we met briefly on the bullet train here."

Eri smiled. "Well, my apologies on behalf of him. He's got some pent up anger."

"It's fine. I'll just stay out of his way like he asked."

"Asked? That's a first." She shrugged.

"Well-"

"EXAMINEES, ON YOUR MARK!"

"Oh gotta go, good luck!" Eri called as she quickly dashed away to find a good place to position herself.

"Agh! Right! Right!" Katsuma looked around at the people around him standing in front of the gates like a pack of Olympic runners.

A loud buzzer went off and the gates blasted open as everyone rushed through with great speed.

He remembered everything they told him at orientation, about the setting, the point system, and-

BOOM

The enemies.

Within the exam, they also talked about a rescue point system, for users whose Quirks aren't so much as fighter type as they are more rescue type. Throughout this fake suburban neighborhood are dummies set up as civilians in danger. Each one recovered and brought to the gate is a life saved.

However, despite the planning, Katsuma forgot what he needed to do.

He ran in with the rest of the group, but as they all left to fight off robots or save civilians, he was stuck in a mental block.

"N-No... I need to focus on what matters right now!" He grabbed the sides of his skull and closed his eyes.

"Katsuma! You can become a hero!"

His eyes opened, his Quirk activated.

His body felt stronger, quicker. A lime green misty glow flashed over his eyes and he raced off.

Left and right, the boy could see everyone single-handedly taking down the robots. Some were catching the dummies and carrying them off.

One robot reached forward to hit the Eri girl, until she evaded the attack to the side and grabbing the arm stuck in mid-punch. With her five fingers, the horn on her forehead grew big and lit up yellow.

The robot froze up then suddenly shrunk down. Then a low creak as the entire body of the robot, wires and all, turned into a large pile of small stones of all kinds, different colors and textures.

Katsuma's jaw dropped as he passed by, seeing Eri brush herself off and her horn shrank back down.

Before he could reach the first house with civilians inside, the ground beneath his running feet cracked.

He stopped, screeching his shoes on the pavement to a halt as the road burst open to reveal a large serpentine shaped robot covered in armored segments.

"THAT'S THE ZERO POINTER?!" Someone screamed.

Katsuma thought he knew what to do. But this was looking like one of his sister's illusions. Real or not, he never knew what to do about something so big when he was little.

Before he could think again, the robotic snake swung its head around the examinees in the streets. Its tail lifted up and blocked the way toward the gate.

"Oh no..." Another examinee gasped as he held on to two civilian dummies.

Suddenly, Kota rushed through the group with bare feet. The balls of his heels seemed to glide across the asphalt like he was skating.

Katsuma observed the ground left behind was covered in puddles of water.

Kota yelled out in anger and leapt into the air as water burst from his hands. The water formed a fine point and sliced into the Zero Pointer's armored tail.

"Gotta get this thing out of my way!" He roared as he continuously slashed at the same spot.

Katsuma quickly ran to help him as another robot was creeping up behind the spike-haired boy.

As Kota turned to face the new threat, Katsuma jumped and sent his foot right through the robot's head like styrofoam.

He grunted and pulled his leg back, freeing his foot from the hole in the machine's head.

"...Thought you might need some help." He shrugged.

Kota glared again before slicing at the tail once more, severing it from the rest of the body and clearing a path.

"Tall boy! Over here!" Eri's voice called.

Katsuma reacted too slowly, not sure who she was talking about. He turned his head to find a small group of robots circling a larger house. In the open windows were silhouettes of civilians hiding out.

Eri was about to rush the group alone while examinees went on to other parts of the suburb.

Before Katsuma could move, Kota pushed him aside with great force. "You know what you need to do!" He yelled back.

The curly-haired boy sniffed as he regained his balance. Yeah, stay out of his way.

He frowned. "Heroes don't fight for attention. They do what needs to be done." His Quirk powered up again. "Thanks for the reminder, Kota."

In a flash, he was off again.

Before Kota could slice through a robot, Katsuma blasted straight through it himself with his body.

This time, he wasn't as careful and his arms and legs were now covered in cuts from the metal.

Kota growled and pushed past him again as he ran to another enemy. "MINE!" He shouted and whipped it with a stream of clear water from his fingertips.

Katsuma groaned as the cuts in his arms and legs closed themselves. "I need to be more careful." He told himself.

He and Kota dashed between the incoming villains, taking them out with quick hits.

Meanwhile, Eri ran inside the house and grabbed a dummy, hoisting it over her shoulders. But before she ran back out, she took a moment to breathe. To slow her breathing down. As she did so, her horn shrunk back down safely.

"You got this." She said.

Hoisting up the dummy again, she kicked in the door and marched quickly to the gate.

Carrying a person was never physically easy for her. Heroes made it seem like barely an inconvenience, even the ones without strength-enhancing Quirks. The old cartoons she would watch with Lemillion were even less accurate.

"I must keep going! No matter what, the heroes before me...who paved the way for people like me... They never gave up. And neither will I!" She reassured herself and ran to the gate, setting the dummy down safely.

She then stood up and ran for the next one.

Kota and Katsuma continued to battle the robots until there were no more in their area.

Suddenly, Katsuma felt a jet of water hit his legs and knock him off his feet.

"What did I tell you?!" Kota shouted and marched over to the boy on his back. "You're embarrassing me! I don't need or want you following me around!"

Katsuma sighed and climbed to his feet, but not before Kota grabbed his collar. "You don't understand what this day means to me. To my family. A nobody like you can become a hero, sure. Just do it far, far away from the real heroes!"

He threw Katsuma back and stomped off.

Before he could stand up again, the buzzer went off. "THAT'S IT! TIME'S UP!"

As he got to his feet, he noticed a cut on Kota's side, right through his wetsuit and into his skin. Either he did to himself, or a robot cut him. Regardless, it was dripping blood down his leg and he was wincing with each step.

"Hey!" Katsuma called.

Kota ignored him and walked in the direction of the gate, until his head became foggy and he waved himself off. Then he fell over.

Katsuma didn't care that this boy was rude to him or that he wanted to prove himself, he needed help.

Eri ran from the group of examinees over to her friend as Katsuma did the same.

"He needs Recovery Girl..." She sniffed. "Oh no... Idiot... He cut himself again."

She set her hands over Kota's cut. "I-I'll see if I can-"

"No wait-" Katsuma put his hands over hers without thinking.

They looked at each other and blushed before both ripped their hands away gently.

"M-My Quirk is made for this. I've used it enough for myself." He said. His hands rested over the boy's open wound and began to glow.

Eri's eyes widened as the cut healed itself instantly.

Once it was covered back up, Katsuma sat back, looking out of breath.

"Don't tell me you overworked yourself." She sighed.

"Yeah I'm...not very good at that...yet." He panted.

Kota woke up and jumped to his feet. "...What were you two just doing?"

Katsuma and Eri blushed and looked away from each other. Kota frowned at them both before turning around and stomping to the gate like nothing happened.

"So much for a 'thanks'." Katsuma sighed.

"Don't mind him. That was...very nice of you." Eri smiled. She too stood up on her feet and walked back.

The tall, curly haired boy smiled back and followed after her.

Chapter Text

The sewer drains led out of the city to a water treatment plant just off the coast. It was here that chunks of a sandy material started to flow out of the drain and on to the sloped concrete that pointed to the plant's opening.

It was late in the afternoon, days after Deku took out the Purity Alliance's secret hideout.

As the last of it dripped from the pipes on the ground, including a large red sphere the size of a baseball, a team of men appeared armed with shovels and began to scoop up the chunks. Immediately, they dumped the puddles into one spot on level ground.

Once the scoops had been dumped into one pile, one man with an eyepatch held out his arm.

"Just give it a second! He's fine." One of the men directed.

They watched as the puddle of sand and wet dust began to grow and fuse together.

Some of the men grimaced as they watched the pile start to shape back up, growing in size and sprouting limbs. The red ball disappeared in the mass as it formed into a man.

"Deku..." He suddenly sputtered.

"Get him a towel." The older man in the eyepatch ordered.

One man ran over and wrapped a towel around the newly reformed man's nude form and helped him to stand and reorient himself.

"Akira Hokori, they got the women and children." The eyepatch man said.

"Hoshi?" The dust-Quirk user asked.

"He and Botan were arrested. As we speak they are being questioned."

"Get me back. I need to-"

"Don't let your personal feelings get in the way, Hokori. You'll get your chance to save them. And the assets." The eyepatch man explained sternly. He turned to the man helping Hokori to stand. "Get him inside the truck."

With a nod of obedience, the man guided the dust-Quirk man away.

"It's more than that." Hokori stopped them to speak. "I want Deku's head. I knew he'd be the biggest obstacle for us and-"

"Save it, Hokori! You'll get yer chance!" The man shouted. "Take him away!"

The men escorted him off the premises of the water treatment plant, as the man in the eyepatch looked on toward the ocean and the near-setting sun.

"One hero? Not even an army can stop us." He said. "I swear on my brother's grave."

Katsuma waited at the station for his train to take him to his grandmother's home not far from the UA grounds.

There, he noticed Kota pass by with his aunt, waiting for theirs to arrive as well.

"Excuse me, young boy from the entrance exam? The fanboy?"

He turned to see Mandalay waving to him, with her left hand on Kota's shoulder firmly.

"I saw what you did back there. Kota may not have, and he may not be very appreciative." Her grip tightened on his tense shoulder as he bared his teeth. "But I saw it. And the judges did too." She smiled.

Katsuma smiled back. "Thank you." He gave a small bow.

Their train arrived, and they boarded and left in a hurry.

For a moment he was alone again, until he heard Eri's voice.

"Hey! Shimano, right?" She called.

Katsuma turned around to see the girl with her horn having since shrunk down on her forehead, wearing an oversized sweater with letters spelling out "LEMILLION". And still wearing the red shoes, same as he.

"Uh, yeah. Hey again!" He waved.

"Did Kota say thank you?" Before Katsuma could answer, she snorted and answered herself. "I assume not. He hates being upstaged."

"I feel like he hates anything I do." Katsuma sighed.

"He sometimes forgets that he's not the only one with issues." Eri pouted.

Katsuma sighed. "Forgive me, but what are you doing here?"

"Daddy and me are taking the train home. We always do." She said.

Sure enough, standing behind her then, apparently blocking the sun from Katsuma, was Shota Aizawa.

"I have to admit, I was impressed with your decision-making skills today." He said with his typical deadpanned expression.

Katsuma raised his eyebrow. "Really?"

"But you hesitated a lot. I won't go into detail complimenting or criticizing you now. You'll get a letter from UA in a couple days telling you that." Shota explained.

Katsuma rubbed his head. "Heh, right."

"So what's your story?" Eri asked.

He jumped, hearing her ask such a straight-forward question. "M-My story?"

Aizawa took a few steps away to wait for the train and give them just a little more privacy.

"W-Well... Ever since I saw Edgeshot on TV, I wanted to become a hero just like him. But it wasn't until Deku and his friends came to my hometown and protected me that I really saw what being a hero means." The tall boy explained.

"I remember that. Deku was out of town for a while and it was winter." Eri added. "So... What's your Quirk?"

"Eri." Aizawa simply said.

"If it's not too personal a question to ask. I saw what you did earlier anyway." She said.

Katsuma smiled. "I don't mind it."

They both glanced away in the short silence that followed, small blushes on their cheeks. Aizawa stared at them through his peripheral vision.

"R-Right. Well, My Quirk is Cell Activation. Basically I can make my body's cells work double time. I can heal myself faster, enhance my stamina and strength, and even heal and do the same to others." He said.

"Seems like you overworked yourself a little today helping Kota. Are you alright now?"

"Yeah. The old nurse lady helped me out afterward." Katsuma brushed off.

Eri smiled. "That is an amazing Quirk. But I'm sorry, I totally forgot your name. You just have such a plain looking face. But that reminds me of Deku so you're doing something right!"

Katsuma chuckled. "My name is Katsuma Shimano."

"And I'm Eri Aizawa, just to remind you." She smiled and quickly shook his hand.

Before Katsuma could ask her anything more, another train pulled in.

"Oh sorry, this is our train! I hope we can talk again soon!" She said with a big warm smile.

Something about her smile seemed so contagious and welcoming.

"I-I hope to talk to you soon as well!" He called as she ran off with her father.

He turned to the boy and glared at him. "If you are accepted into UA, you haven't seen the last of me."

"Daddy!" Eri yelled and tugged at his arm.

As the train closed its doors and blasted away, Katsuma had an epiphany. "She reminds me of the Hero, Neijire Chan."

He took a moment to rest against a pillar waiting for his next train when his phone received a message from an unknown number.

"Hey! Hope this doesn't come across as creepy but I'm glad to see that you're in town for the entrance exam! I was there for a portion of it but I had some business to tend to. Anyway, come by this address once you get your letter from UA!"

"Sincerely, Mr. Deku." At the bottom of the message wrote the address to an apartment not far from his grandma. Just around the same block.

Katsuma's eyes grew big and he jumped into the air cheering loudly and scaring the other commuters nearby.

Chapter Text

The police chief sighed as he tapped his watch. "1:59pm."

"Well, he's no Ingenium. He does everything he knows he can." Detective Tsukauchi said as he smiled and shook his head. "He'll be here though. This is an important meeting."

"Yes it is. If he's late, we'll go in and start without him."

"They won't talk unless he himself is here." Tsukauchi explained.

As the time hit 2:00pm, a silhouette appeared from out of the bright, sunny sky. Then a green flash blasted down, catching a few rooftops with long, black tendrils. Then Deku himself landed on one knee and fist on the pavement, leaving a good crack where he now stood.

"Quite the entrance." The police chief grumbled.

"Did you really have to come in that way?" Tsukauchi asked.

Deku looked down at the pavement under his feet and chuckled nervously. "Sorry about that. I saw someone's flying Quirk take them a little higher than they wanted so I intervened on my way here."

"Enough excuses. It's time. Come." The Chief said as he stepped into the police station doors, not waiting for the detective and hero.

"Don't mind him. He just has a thing against younger heroes." Tsukauchi whispered.

"I understand." Deku whispered back and stepped inside.

They escorted him to a small room deep inside the center of the building.

"Don't mind the extra precautions. But you'll need to know some things before you go in and conduct this interview." Detective Tsukauchi said as he pulled Deku aside in the hall.

"Right." Deku nodded.

"You liberated four women and four children from that Purity Alliance hideout. Each of the children have Quirk power levels we've never seen before. They're all at the age where their Quirks have manifested for probably a year now. It's almost like they were born around the exact same time." He went on to explain.

Deku gulped. There was a theory made years ago, only proven more and more with each passing generation, that every new generation of Quirk users not only inherits a little bit of both abilities from their parents, but also a combination of power. It was a concerning theory, because if a child was to be raised incorrectly, their Quirks could be very well used for harming others. Like Eri Aizawa was used long ago, and it took longer than most children to teach her to control her Quirk.

"One of the women is the 'wife' of the man you fought there, Akira Hokori. And one of the children is theirs." The middle aged detective sighed. "It's important to know that both Akira and this woman here are not the first generation to live in this kind of organization."

Now, for some reason, this made Deku wonder what Eri would have turned out to be had she never been rescued. What kind of monster they would have brainwashed her to become.

"Since they were both raised in this lifestyle, they're very hostile and brainwashed to believe in the ways of the Purity Alliance. Get as much information as you can from her. And about the child's Quirk too." He instructed.

Deku nodded. "What about the other women and children?"

"They will be interviewed by the other heroes that were there that night. But we felt it best that you speak with her since you two have more of a... connection."

Deku sighed. "I defeated her husband in front of them. Are you sure about this?"

Tsukauchi smiled. "Just remember: The way to a mother is through her child."

The green-haired hero sighed again. "Okay. I'm ready."

The police guards opened the door for him, allowing him to step into the mysterious room by himself.

The door was immediately shut with a loud and thick sound that complimented its shear durability.

The room was empty from his side, well lit, and blanketed white.

On the other side was a table where a woman sat with a hateful glare in her eyes. By her side, playing on the floor, sat a little boy. They looked like any normal mother and child, aside from the jumpsuits provided. Deku found it interesting that they even made jumpsuits for kindergartners.

"Aito, we have a visitor." The woman said sternly.

The boy quit what he was doing and climbed up into a chair at a right angle to his mother at the table.

Deku kept his demeanor professional as he stepped forward. Upon closer inspection as he sat down, he noticed the table, and the entire room itself was divided in half.

His eyes darted curiously around for the source of the energy barrier projection, until the woman cleared her throat, catching his attention.

"Your police knew what they were doing. This barrier cancels out my powers." She said.

Deku frowned. "Miss, you've lived far too long in that awful lifestyle. Aren't you tired of it?"

The woman glared at him. "It's all we know. The true way to live in these times."

"What do you mean by that?" He asked, leaning forward and resting his arms on the table between them.

"I don't need to tell you what you already know. You know that each generation of Quirks is stronger than the last, yes?"

Deku nodded. This woman really was brainwashed into this Purity Alliance group since she was a girl. "Who is this little one?" He turned his attention over to the boy, who sat unnaturally attentive and still for someone his age.

"His name is Aito." She hissed. "And I am Miku."

"Has his Quirk begun to manifest?" Deku asked.

Miku sat back in her seat, remaining silent to the question.

"Answer the question, Miku. You don't have a lot of options here." A voice through the intercom in the walls announced to the divided room.

She scoffed. "I have to endure you people for just a little while longer."

"Why is that? Do you believe your husband is coming to get you out of here?" Deku asked.

"If not me, our son, Aito." Miku said with a smile, brushing her knuckles gently across the little boy's cheek.

"Your husband's Quirk... He could change his body into dust, right?" He probed.

Miku stayed silent. "You didn't kill him, you know. You captured eight of us, and three of his friends. But he's still out there."

"I never use my gifts to kill, unlike your husband and his friends." Deku explained.

"We do it because it is the only way the world will listen now. The bigger the crime, the stronger the message. But we're not criminals in our eyes. This is simply living."

"Your people have taken innocents lives. You used to be a victim yourself. Taken."

Miku leaned forward. The buzzing energy barrier dividing them hummed a little louder. "I was taken as a sex slave by a different group before I was rescued by my love and his father. Your world, your people, did nothing."

Deku sighed. "I'll try harder. So much harder to be the hero for all-"

"This happened many years ago, you would have been a child like me."

An earpiece radio buzzed inside Deku's lobe. "Deku, you're getting off track. Get the information on their Quirks and any plans they have to break out."

Deku nodded subtly. "So what is your Quirk?"

"Why don't you take a guess." She hissed. "I'm trapped in a room with an energy barrier. While energy barriers are known to suppress most types of Quirks, only a few movement-based really can't pass through no matter how much energy we have. And I didn't use it in time the night you raided our hideout because I was protecting Aito and the others."

Deku's brain began to shift gears and process this. An energy movement based Quirk. And it can't pass through the shield, but neither can pretty much any other Quirk.

"What does Aito have?"

"Don't speak his name." Miku balled her fists on the table. "He has the next step in human evolution with Quirks. Bred to be perfect, and stronger than anyone else of his type."

"Tell us." Deku demanded.

Chapter Text

Katsuma clutched his UA letter in hand, still torturously unopened, as he ran up the few flights of stairs to an above average apartment door in an above average apartment complex for pro-hero housing.

As he reached the door, he quickly knocked with a speedy rhythm that could make a woodpecker jealous.

The hero Deku answered in a simple grey t-shirt. So simple, it literally had the kanji for "shirt" printed on it.

"Katsuma! I can see you're excited! Come on in!" He smiled and backed up in the doorway to let the teen inside.

"Thanks!" He said as he ran through the entrance and stopped inside the living space. "Nice place you got here."

Uravity, in a loose long-sleeve shirt and yoga pants came in with a plate of almost-burnt cookies, and her brown hair up in a ponytail. "Evening, Katsuma!"

"You remember Uravity, right, Katsuma?" Deku asked.

"I do! My sister follows all of your social media." The boy smiled, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head sharing such information.

"Well that's very kind of her." Uravity smiled. "And here you may call me Ochako."

Katsuma's face grew bright as the fanboy he was. He quickly bowed before her in gratitude. "Thank you, Ochako!"

Deku smiled. "When you got here, you seemed really anxious to open that letter."

"OH YES!" Katsuma zipped from where he stood to the closest sofa he could find.

"Nyah!" Deku jumped. He sighed happily and followed, sitting beside his big fan.

Ochako sat on the other side, offering the two her baked treats.

And yet, Katsuma sat there holding that letter with the UA's wax insignia seal on it, without opening it.

"S-Sorry, it's just..."

Deku smiled at him. "I know. When I was your age, I actually had a lot of doubts about it. But I saw that you did great!"

"So they let you in with the faculty to watch the exam?" Katsuma asked.

"Yeah. I got special clearance along with a few other heroes. Most of them were scouting for interns early."

Katsuma nodded before looking down at his letter again. "You really think I did good enough?"

"The entrance exam isn't meant to pick only those ready to become heroes the next day." Ochako added. "Just to see the spark that makes a hero in each of the examinees."

"Spark?" He asked.

"The drive to do what's right, no matter the cost. To use our abilities for others, especially those unable to defend and save themselves." Deku declared with a confident voice.

Ochako smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Wow..." Katsuma gasped. "I've waited for this moment for a long time." He clutched the letter before lifting it up and tearing it open.

Out fell a small metal disk that landed on the coffee table before their knees and immediately flashed a video up over the black television screen.

On the video stood the current Number 32 Hero, "Can't Stop Twinkling" as he was currently striking a flamboyant pose. "Bonjour, young hero-to-be! It is I, Can't Stop Twinkling, here to give you your results for the UA entrance exam!" As he spoke, he proceeded to change poses and hold them for a moment or two.

Katsuma smiled big. Deku knew they would normally pick the Number One Hero to give the announcements, but this particular Number One is... less than eager to share examinee results for UA high school. So they went with the first hero willing to be on camera and say just about anything.

"Examinee, Katsuma Shimano! Here are your results!"

In the corner of the screen where the hero's fingers pointed, a list of results were posted. As each of them were emphasized onscreen, Can't Stop Twinkling listed them off and explained a bit further why the judges gave such scores.

Overall, Katsuma's face grew wet with tears as he saw that he had passed.

"Not only did you use your Quirk to protect and fight, but you were excellent at looking after both the "civilians" and the other examinees!"

Onscreen played clips from where he fought off the robots, to where he healed that Kota boy.

Deku patted his back with pride. Ochako smiled.

Katsuma smiled big as tears streamed down his cheeks.

"A word of caution, however."

The three snapped back to the hero on the screen.

"With an increase in power amongst the newer generations, it must be stressed how much care you give your body between the times you use your Quirk. Understand your limitations and work with them, oy vey!" The Sparkling hero said.

"Limitations. Work with them." Katsuma tilted his head in thought.

"We look forward to seeing you soon! Welcome, petit hero, to UA!" He cheered as he held out his right hand to Katsuma, with his other planted over his heart. With a wink, the video was over.

The three sat in brief silence before jumping up and cheering in victory.

"You did it, Katsuma!" Deku exclaimed.

"Yeah!" He exclaimed back and looked down at his hands. "...I really did it."

Ochako quickly handed them both the plate of cookies. "You two should celebrate. I can't stop eating those, take them away from me." She chuckled and walked to the kitchen area.

"That's right! I love cookies!" Katsuma smiled and stuffed one in his mouth.

"I wonder what made Ochako so hungry for them. She doesn't usually eat the cookies she makes."

Katsuma shrugged as he consistently continued to stuff his face.

Eri threw her arms around her adoptive father, Shouta Aizawa moments after her results were announced in her video letter.

"Well done, Eri. You're one step ahead." Aizawa said with a small smile.

"Thank you, Daddy." She pulled away and kissed his cheek.

"Congratulations, Eri!" The hero Lemillion cheered in his civilian clothes. He ran up and gave her a hug right off of Aizawa.

"Thanks, Mirio!"

"We're so happy for you, girl!" The heroine, Nejire-Chan said with a big smile from across the room.

Beside her, another hero Suneater smiled and waved to her. "Great job, kiddo."

Eri jumped from Lemillion's arms, to each of them, giving them all a big hug.

"Just don't let this one victory get to your head, young lady." Aizawa said sternly.

"Yes, Daddy." Eri said. "I understand things will be hard still, but it'll all be worth it. I need to do this. I need to become a hero to others, like you all were to me."

They smiled for her.

"We have full confidence in you!" Lemillion declared.

Two women and a tall man began to cheer and open up bottles of alcoholic beverage shortly after Kota's letter was opened.

Another woman, Mandalay, sat beside him on the sofa.

"I barely passed..." Kota said softly.

"But still you passed. You were very impressive out there!" She counseled with him.

"No true hero is known for barely making it. I need to go all out." The boy declared to himself.

"Listen, I know you do and I will support you, we all will. But you also need to watch yourself. I feel like that message was for you, to watch yourself in between times you use your Quirk, and to know your limitations."

"But UA is all about going Plus Ultra! I can't become a great hero worthy of my parents' title being mediocre and cautious! Deku pushed himself beyond his limit every day!"

Mandalay frowned. "And because of that, he can't use his arms to his full limit or they'll break beyond healing."

"He did it to save me!"

"Little Kota-kitty!" The blonde Pixie-Bob addressed. She was already a little tipsy from her drink. "You need to take it one day at a time! Tonight just chiiiiill. *hiccup*"

Kota blushed yet kept his irritated look.

"As drunk as Ryuko is about to get, she's right." Mandalay sighed. "Come on, I'll whip up a nice non-alcoholic fruit cocktail for you."

"I'm not hungry." Kota grumbled.

"It's not food. And you don't have a choice." Mandalay smirked. "Now come on."

Chapter Text

To avoid any possible biases, any student with blood-relation to a teacher, must not be placed into the homeroom with that very teacher. Despite Aizawa's history of never liking his students enough to have an actual bias, Principal Nezu knew that he is still human. And his history with Eri, ever since he met her as a traumatized little child, could affect that.

Eri was assigned to the Hero Course, Class 1-B. She walked down the hall in her brand new UA uniform jacket, shirt, tie, skirt, and socks, with a skip in her step as she went. She'd walked these halls before, but this was the first day that it actually meant something far deeper. She owed it all to people who attended this school and walked these halls for saving her life and giving her the chance to make something more of it than the granddaughter of a Yakuza.

It was her choice to become a hero and save children in need like heroes had done for her. And it starts here and now.

As she stepped into the classroom, however, she was suddenly knocked off her feet.

"Without a second to think, you're ambushed by a villain!" Someone said.

Reorienting herself, Eri opened her eyes to see an older gentleman with his foot against her stomach, pinning her to the wall. But his body was still where the teacher's desk should be.

His leg was stretched across the front of the room, holding her back.

"Act quickly! No time to think! Use your basic instincts!" He ordered.

Eri grabbed his foot and tried to pull it off straight forward. Having no effect was not a surprise to her, but it gave her a moment to remember training her adoptive father gave her.

"You never want to charge something head-on. I know how much heroes like Deku and Lemillion mean to you, but their fighting styles are unique." Aizawa told her as she mirrored his slower martial arts movements in a private gym.

"That's the nicest thing you've ever said about their fighting styles." Eri smirked.

"Because even they aren't safe. To this day they're still foolish and reckless. Always be agile and think quickly. Your opponents will be bigger, meaner, and yet their goals and minds are clear: take you out." Aizawa said.

Suddenly, he swung his leg in her direction. Eri ducked the attack and lunged at him, but his capture device wrapped around her body and closed in.

She breathed again and pushed this mysterious teacher's foot out of the way at an angle where she was neither pushing forward, nor tossing it aside. The extended limb wobbled as it was knocked off of her.

"Good start, Ms. Aizawa." The teacher smiled. "Take your seat."

Eri panted proudly, not used to defending herself in a high school uniform, and walked over to the assigned desk in the center of the room. On one side of her was her friend Kota.

"Hey!" She smiled and whispered to him as she sat herself down.

Kota waved to her, lightening the look on his face for a moment to silently say hello.

Just before the bell rang, none other than Katsuma ran through the doorway and immediately tried walking to his seat.

"Fast. But not fast enough, Mr...?"

Katsuma stopped in his tracks and slowly turned to face his new teacher.

"Sh-Shimano... Katsuma Shimano." He said after quickly clearing his throat and clutching his bag tighter.

The teacher narrowed his eyes. "Well, every few students that came in, I tested them in some way in regards to physical defense. Since you were almost late, I think I'll use you as my test dummy for today."

"T-Test dummy?" Katsuma gulped.

The students around him chuckled silently.

"Take your seat, Shimano. It's about time we start." The man instructed.

The boy bowed before sitting down next to Eri. He looked at her briefly and smiled. Eri turned her eyes to make eye contact and smiled back. She mouthed the word "hey".

"Okay then! Welcome, first years, to your Hero Course homeroom. I am Hanta Serizawa. You shall address me as Mr. Serizawa only. I'm a cool guy, but not that cool." The teacher announced. Unlike the other teachers who wore their hero costumes when they taught, he was wearing a simple buttoned up short-sleeved grey shirt and his hair was combed back, making him hard to recognize as anything more than just a teacher.

Despite the lack of a hero's appearance, his name and the demonstration of his Quirk on students like Eri made Katsuma's eyes shoot open.

"You're Spring-Hell!" He blurted out in excitement before just as quickly covering his mouth with his hands.

Everyone in the class turned his way with angry stares.

Serizawa laughed. "Yes, secret identity is out. When you live in a world made up of super powers and superheroes, it's not as easy to hide your identity as it would be the old comic book characters. Don't worry, Shimano, I wasn't trying to hide it. I just think being a teacher and being a hero are two separate jobs, no offense to the staff here that do it altogether. But I haven't been able to set myself up in Japan yet as a pro, having only recently been hired all the way from America for teaching."

Katsuma smiled.

"Still, I don't appreciate you mouthing off without raising your hand, Shimano. Blurting out what you figure out is not a very tactical thing to do as a pro-hero, do I make myself clear?"

Katsuma's smile dropped. "Yes, sir." He bowed his head.

Kota rolled his eyes and kept his usual scowl.

"This class is simple to explain. I will spend only a few minutes telling you what will happen. The rest of the class period, I will show you what to expect." Serizawa said. "Right now, we are experiencing exponential growth in Quirk power levels. With each new generation comes new combinations and abilities of Quirks built up over many years. Our society, even with laws more relaxed and focused on the positive growth of children with Quirks, is still struggling to keep up. And more recently, villainous organizations are weaponizing this."

Katsuma remembered hearing about Deku's last big mission rescuing women and children from a Quirk purification group that made child soldiers.

"The duties of heroes are growing, and more heroes are needed than ever to control this." Serizawa explained. "If you all truly want to become heroes, allow us to show you just how hard it will be. Everyone, change into your training outfits and meet me at Training Ground Beta in ten minutes. Dismissed."

Eri, Kota, and Katsuma looked at each other for a moment before standing up with their classmates and leaving the classroom.

As the other 17 students marched on, Eri bumped Katsuma and Kota's shoulders on both sides of her. "Guess we're all classmates now, huh?"

"Yes. With those ridiculous shoes." Kota rolled his eyes.

"I just noticed that too!" Eri smiled. "We're all wearing the same shoes! And I know that's not a coincidence."

"Alright then." Katsuma smiled as they walked through the hall. "Tell us, Mr. Kota. Why do you wear those 'ridiculous shoes'?"

Kota gritted his teeth and grumbled something to himself. "Personal reasons."

Eri sighed. "Sure, okay. I wear mine because Deku saved my life like eight years ago."

"That's amazing!" Katsuma smiled. "I wear mine for the same reason. Deku himself saved me and my sister." He instinctively gripped at the bracelet on his wrist, made by his sister Mahoro before he left home.

"So Eri." Kota said.

"Hm?" Eri turned her head over to her older friend.

"I noticed you could have had your dad's class. We all could have." He pointed out.

"Well, the school didn't want there to be any biases, no favoritism between teacher and student. So they put me in a different class." She explained.

"Even though Class 1-A has always been statistically more popular and better." Kota spurted out. "Deku's teacher was Aizawa."

Katsuma put his finger to his chin. "That is true. But I don't think we'll turn out any worse or better than if we were placed in Aizawa's class."

"His methods are unorthodox for teachers, even in the hero course." Kota described. "But they were effective. The students were always pushed to breaking point, only to come out stronger." In his mind, he thought back to the mountain training camp all those years ago, before the League attacked, when Mr. Aizawa pushed those students including Deku beyond a moment of breath. And his aunt and the other Pussycats only made things worse for them. But it was for the greater good. In the end, those same heroes changed the world. Kota believed it all factored together, the hard work with the huge success and victory.

"Even with that, during the sports festival and other joint class tests and operations, they were equal and sometimes even less productive than other classes." Eri added. "Even some of the strongest of Class 1-A failed exams where other classes passed in full."

"Are you guys referring to any specific year?" Katsuma asked.

"Statistics, meathead." Kota narrowed his eyes. "We tend to reference Deku's first year, since that was the most eventful school year in history tying in with the rise and fall of the League of Villains. But a similar thing happens every year in Aizawa's class. Students either quit or rise above all the others."

"Well, I'm sure Mr. Serizawa's class will be just as productive for us. And it's not about the teacher either. It's our willingness to become heroes." Eri suggested.

"Like Deku." Kota added.

Katsuma smiled. "Like Deku."

Chapter Text

Katsuma found himself an empty table in the cafeteria and planted his tray down. Not long after, a student he recognized from his own class sat on the other side of the same table.

He looked up and met eyes with the teen boy who had grey skin, eyes, and hair. His whole physique reminded Katsuma of black and white cartoons from many generations ago. His grandma kept a few even though she herself did not grow up with them. And the boy's pupils were not even full circles, but more like black pies missing a couple pieces and formed "Pac-Man" shapes. Unlike his appearance, his face wasn't so friendly.

"I'm only sitting here because all the other tables are full." He said.

"Oh." Katsuma said. "Well, thanks anyway. It's nice to not sit alone."

"Oh I know you're not alone. That horned girl kept looking at you all throughout homeroom. She should be here any minute along with that water boy." The boy explained.

"Wow... You're very observant." Katsuma pointed out.

"Class is so boring to me that I simply have more to pay attention to. And don't think I have a study problem but quite the opposite. I'm a recommended. I didn't test in." He continued.

"Wow. I did not ask." Katsuma thought to himself. "Well, that is cool! My name is Katsuma Shimano." He held his hand across the table to the grey colored student.

"Gomuhosu Yamirato." He nodded respectfully and shook Katsuma's hand.

Katsuma looked down to find that Gomuhosu had on white gloves to match the rest of his appearance.

"So I tend to talk about myself a lot. What made you want to get into the hero program?" Gomuhosu asked as he began to finally eat the food in his bowl.

"Ah, well I-"

"WAIT!" Eri shouted and slammed her tray on the table beside the two of them. "Don't tell your story without me!"

And sure enough, behind her stood Kota, rolling his eyes and clutching his tray closely.

"Told ya." Gomuhosu raised his eyebrow.

"Oh. Um. Hi." Katsuma waved sheepishly.

Eri smiled and sat down, with Kota sitting silently next to her. "You were saying?" She beckoned.

"Oh, right. Well." Katsuma blushed. "It's kind of a long story."

Eri looked at him patiently waiting excitedly for his history.

Katsuma cleared his throat. "Years ago, Deku and his class at the time came to stay on Nabu Island around Christmas to practice hero work. My family is from Nabu Island but my dad was away on a business trip back on the mainland. One day these horrible villains invaded the island hoping to find my Quirk and steal it."

"Hold on. Someone else had the ability to steal Quirks besides the infamous All For One?" Kota butt in.

"Yes that is intriguing." Gomuhosu added.

"Well he was a Nomu...Sort of."

"He was a Nomu?" Kota asked.

"An independently functioning Nomu?" Gomuhosu also asked.

"Well not really. He was more like a terrorist that used the League of Villains to get more Quirks." Katsuma explained.

Only his explanations made the two think up more and more questions for him, rather than let him continue. This drove Eri to groan loudly.

"Will you two shut up and let him talk already? Geez! Not every detail is necessary!"

The two sighed and remained quiet.

"A-Anyway, Deku and Ground Zero stopped them along with help from the whole class. But something Deku told me inspired me to become a hero even more than I dreamed to be."

The young student looked down at his closed hand on the table. "'You too can become a hero!'"

Eri looked down under the table. All three of them were wearing the same ugly red shoes again.

"Kota." She said.

The brown-haired boy turned to his childhood friend.

"Deku saved your life from a terrifying villain too, didn't he." She said as more matter-of-fact rather than a question.

"Yesss. What of it?" He asked.

"Before that day, you hated heroes because of what that lifestyle did to your family. What that villain did. But when I met you, you loved heroes, especially Deku. You wouldn't stop wearing his sho-"

"Okay! What is your point here?" He interrupted.

"My point, silly, is that we are all wearing those shoes. Deku at some point in time rescued all of us. He literally broke himself for each of us so that we could live on." Eri said.

Gomuhosu's eyes lit up. "You three are like Deku's big fan club or something. But rightfully so. How ironic."

"Beat it, Mickey Mouse!" Kota snapped at him.

"Mickey Mouse?" Gomuhosu asked. "I was here before you."

"He's as welcome here as you are." Katsuma said. He turned to the grey student and smiled.

Kota huffed. "So what if Deku rescued all of us. That doesn't mean we should be friends."

"Well, it gets exhausting being friends with two guys who won't try to make a connection back!" Eri snapped. "I like you both and I just think it could be nice if we were all...y'know? Acquaintances or something! At least not enemies."

Kota and Katsuma blushed at her comment, which caught Gomuhosu's attention and nearly made him choke on his rice.

Katsuma turned to the two. "You're right. I'm willing to be friends. As good a hero as Deku is, his fanbase isn't all that big. Us fanboys and girls gotta stick together."

Kota grumbled. "Fine. But don't expect me to be your best friend. I..." He sighed. "I can say I r...res...respect you as a guy with good taste."

Katsuma smiled, understanding how hard that must have been to admit.

Eri threw her arms around both of their heads and squealed loudly throughout the cafeteria's ambience. "I'm so excited to start a Deku fan club!"

"Wait, what?" Kota asked.

"I have a story." Gomuhosu pitched in. "Yeah, I'm still here."

"Oh yes. What was your name again?" Eri asked.

"Gomuhosu Yamirato." He said. "Deku himself never really rescued me but he was kind enough to stop and give an autograph for my sister. But I do take a lot of inspiration from Red Riot."

"Yeah that's great." Kota said unemotionally.

"Coming for another session of silence, Mr. Deku?"

"Not this time. You've tested the patience of every policeman here and myself enough." The young green-haired hero said with a frown from the other end of the split table.

The apparent wife of the dust villain sat at the other end, as her son played in a corner on their side of the energy barrier.

"Isn't it obvious? I may have been kidnapped but I chose this life. My family disgraced our Quirks. My father hated seeing us use them."

"Teleportation?" Deku asked.

"He claimed that teleportation was an ability for cowards. Assassins. Thieves. Dishonorable creatures." She answered. "And so, when the Purity Alliance chose me to wed Akira and bear his children, I accepted because they saw my Quirk as the future. A building block for the next generation who truly appreciate Quirks for what they are worth and not judge them as weapons of cowards."

Miku then leaned forward in her chair. "Akira Hokori is no coward."

Suddenly, the building shook in a short tremor.

Deku looked her in the eyes as she remained staring at him, a wide sharp smile crawled on her face.

"You said you bore his children?" Deku asked.

"Aito, now!" Miku shouted.

The little boy turned around and grabbed his mother's arm. Instantly, the two of them dissipated in a cloud of dust, and as fast as they were gone, the entire half of the room where they stood melted into dust. The corrosion spread, destroying the energy field and tearing down the ceiling.

Deku activated One For All and rushed out through the doorway.

"They escaped! Her teleportation Quirk!" He shouted at the policemen as he ran right out the front doors.

But just as quickly as he reached daylight, he felt a surge of energy approaching, and suddenly he was blasted off his feet while everything around him turned to dust: the street, the police station's entryway, the sidewalk, and a few signs.

The hero jumped to his feet to find the little boy, Miku's mysterious son, standing in the road at the edge of the pool of dust.

"What?" Deku questioned.

The boy, no older than six years old, frowned at him. "Leave my mommy alone!" He hissed. Around him, the street corroded more and more into dust, leaving a donut shape surrounding him.

"My boy, I'm not going to hurt y-"

BAM!

A projectile fired from down the road struck Deku in the chest, blasting him far back until his body struck the first building and left a crater in the bricks. Upon impact, he was knocked out.

Chapter Text

The day had reached its end. The classmates had all wandered out from the school towards their new dorm. Katsuma was, as usual, very excited.

"Just like Deku and the other heroes back when they attended this school!" He said pumping his fist into the air.

"Heck yeah!" Eri cheered.

They welcomed Gomuhosu into their little group to walk with them and see their new rooms. Kota followed behind Eri.

"Hey, we should show off our dorm rooms!" Eri suggested.

"Good idea. Showing our sleeping quarters is a good sign of trust." Gomuhosu stated with his emotionless face.

Kota grimaced. "I'm not doing that."

"Too bad because I'm gonna barge into your room anyway." Eri smirked.

The foursome made their way inside and to the first door on the girls' side.

"Welcome to my humble abode." She declared as she literally kicked open her door with her shoe.

Inside was surprisingly minimalist aside from the fangirl paraphernalia. There were clear influences on her taste from her various guardians and heroes throughout her childhood. Everything from a full cardboard cutout of Deku, to vintage action figures of Lemillion, Suneater, and Neijirechan. For a big fan of heroes, she was fairly modest in comparison to her friends.

Katsuma let himself inside first and marched right up to the cutout of the hero Deku. "I know this suit! This was the suit he wore before his trademark air force gloves!"

Eri smiled proudly. "Mhmm!"

"You seem to be attached to all these heroes. If I recall, they all came together to...rescue you from the Yakuza?" The grey-skinned fourth member of their gang questioned.

Eri's cheeks grew warm at the memories of all her saviors from that day. And she remembered the day she found out that Sir Nighteye had died during the fight, when she was a little older. "They all did so much just for me. Just one little girl lost. Those are the heroes I believe in and they've inspired me to strive for the same. I want to save lost children just like I was." She admitted.

Katsuma patted her back. "Deku and his class sacrificed so much to protect me. I owe it to all of them too."

"And let's not forget Deku breaking himself to protect Kota." Gomuhosu added.

"Say one more thing about that and you'll be begging for Deku to come save you, Roger Rabbit!" Kota barked in his direction.

Eri suddenly burst out laughing. Soon each of them cracked a laugh, even Kota couldn't stop himself from smiling.

"What do you think guys? Do we make a good Deku fan club?" Katsuma asked after their laughter died down.

"I think you do." Gomuhosu said with a small smile.

"Break up this mushy stuff. It's time for y'all to see my room." Kota marched toward the doorway jamming a thumb in his chest.

The first reaction Katsuma gave was a big laugh. On the farthest wall was a big colorful poster for the Wild! Wild! Pussycats!

At first Kota was confused, then he knew exactly what Katsuma was laughing at and blushed angrily. "My aunt insisted I have something to represent them by. They are the ones who looked after me all these years." He glared at Gomuhosu silently threatening him if he made any references to what happened in his past.

Everything else in his room was modest. A small weight training set in the corner, reading desk, and an even bigger poster for the hero Deku, signed of course.

Eri nudged him playfully and nodded in approval.

"Nicely done." Katsuma added, giving him a thumbs up.

"You know you don't have to be so nice to me after all the dirt I said to you." Kota frowned.

"Hey, friends don't give up on friends." He replied proudly.

Eri screamed internally as her face grew a big goofy smile.

"Next would be my room." Gomuhosu said.

His room was filled with American cartoon toys, games, and posters. All his civilian clothing and just about everything he owned had some sort of Japanese or American cartoon character on it.

"My mother thinks it brings out my personality if I decorated myself more like this." He said with his usual deadpanned expression.

"Y'know Gomu-chan, you'd make a great silly hero if you really acted like it too. Having a Quirk and a silly look isn't enough." Eri suggested.

Katsuma and Kota agreed.

Gomuhosu looked at them all puzzled. "I don't understand."

Eri rolled her eyes. "Give us the biggest, most cartoony smile you can manage."

He shrugged, having no clue what she was talking about, and physically stretched the sides of his lips to cartoonishly large proportions and smiled like something out of a Bisney show.

Kota shuddered. "That's even worse than not smiling at all!"

Gomuhosu dropped the smile and it shrunk back into his face.

"Yeah. Maybe not that big..." Eri thought out loud. She was acting more like his personal hairdresser than a critic. "Just give your natural picture day smile. Remember Deku and All Might always said to give a bright smile to others!"

Again he shrugged, then smiled naturally.

"Much better! When in doubt, smile!" Eri said giving her usual pretty smile. Katsuma and Kota both felt their hearts skip a beat.

"I guess that leaves my room!" Katsuma announced.

Inside was all the hero merchandise one could purchase on an allowance. Everything from collections of hero pins to action figures that lined on the shelves and desk to posters that covered the entire wall like its own wallpaper.

Despite how childish and faboyish it was, Katsuma was proud to have it all.

Now it was Kota's turn to snicker. "Man, you're back to being the school fanboy."

"Thank you." Katsuma smirked.

"This is so cool!" Eri cheered. "It's like a little hero museum!"

"Very impressive." Gomuhosu said as he looked around.

"And just like you guys, I owe it all to heroes like Deku for risking life and limb to save me." The tall curly haired boy said.

Each of them thought of their experiences with Deku saving them, and inspiring them.

"I'm sorry some of us got off on the wrong foot but I think we can help each other out knowing our pasts and why we're here." He then threw his hand out in front of them. "Deku Squad?"

"Deku Squad!" Eri returned by slapping her hand down on his.

"I agree. Deku Squad." Gomuhosu said placing his hand down in the pile.

Kota sighed. "Alright fine. Deku Squad." He then added his own hand.

"Let's kick some villain butt!" Eri cheered.

"Do you mind telling me how a six year old sent you into a two day coma?!"

Deku was now sitting at home on his cell phone with Centipeder of his agency. Despite his injury, he was immediately placed on house arrest until he woke up and had no further damages.

"I have no idea, okay? All I remember was the woman and her child escaped the jail and the kid sent me flying back." He said with sweat dripping down his brow.

"I've got an entire city's police angry about it. You're so close to reaching the top ten heroes of Japan and you let a toddler knock you out!" The centipede hero shouted through the phone's receiver.

"I understand." Deku replied.

"Do you even have a lead on where they went?!" The hero asked. Despite his high-pitched voice, Deku was still very easily intimidated by his boss.

"I'll start by checking the warehouse we raided." He said.

"Good. I called the Animal Hero Agency in Senpai. They're sending me BloodHound to assist you." He said. "Don't let them get away this time! This Purity Alliance is getting bigger and bigger with each discovery."

"Did you find out how they managed to escape?" Deku asked.

"Someone on the inside did it." Centipeder answered. "These guys remind me of the League of Villains. Only their objective isn't to destroy society but to convert it to their cult."

Deku stared ahead in thought. "I'll start today. When can I expect BloodHound by?"

"He's already on his way to the warehouse. I gave him the coordinates." His boss said. "If you're finally healed, get moving."

"On it." Deku hung up and got up to fetch his hero suit.

Chapter Text

The group of men who helped Akira Hokori up from the sewer drain had now dragged him to a large mansion just outside of the big city lights.

Akira had gained his strength back and left them in the main room. He marched through the house to a private office space.

"Tanjiro Takei."

An older man in a nice grey suit almost jumped out of his office chair, holding his phone to his ear. "I'll have to call you back. Give me one minute." He said as he hung up and slapped the phone down. "Akira Hokori, you have returned!" He smiled.

Akira marched right up to his desk with anger in his eyes.

"Ah-ah-ah! What is it you want now?!" The older man asked defensively.

"I need to speak to my grandfather." The dust-Quirk user stated.

Tanjiro Takei gulped. "He is not well today. No visitors."

"He's not been well for a long time, Councillor." Akira hissed. "But no more waiting. I need to see him."

"Do you know how the League of Villains gained so much power when they did? They were patient! They waited for their moment to arrive. Are you going to force us to take action before our chance ever comes?"

"Do not compare us to the League!" Akira roared, slamming his fist on the wooden table, causing it to crack through.

Tanjiro frowned and then sighed. "I will give you five minutes with him, then you will let him rest. He's an old man. We won't have his guidance with us much longer."

"But you will always have me." Akira said.

Tanjiro grumbled to himself something about how bad that was for his publicity.

"Give me the key."

The older man pulled a small key from his desk drawer and handed it to the villain.

Akira took it and marched out of the room through another corridor that led right to a large locked door. He inserted the key and let himself in without warning.

Once the door was shut behind, Tanjiro sank back into his chair in relief before pulling out his phone again.

The room there was dark. The curtains were all shut, only glowing lightly from the sunlight outside. Medical equipment lined the head and one side of a large decorated bed in the far center of the spacious room.

An elderly figure lay still in the bed, his head, shoulders, and arms were exposed and he wore nothing but a hospital gown. He seemed asleep, until he spoke.

"Years of fighting and hiding and trying to make a difference... They take a toll on the human body."

Akira, upon hearing his voice, bowed himself before the man.

"Come. Let me see my grandson." He ordered softly.

Akira approached the bedside and knelt down. The old man had wires and tubes coming out of different parts of his face and body, connecting to the various machines around.

"And not everyone can say that they fought All Might and walked away from it." He said rather proudly. But even managing a smile resulted in him coughing loudly.

Akira flinched with every boisterous heave of his chest.

"Young Aki. I am proud to call you my grandson. We just need to wait a little longer..." He said placed a bony hand on Akira's wet cheek.

"Grandfather. I need you to know that everything I've ever done was for you. You've given me a calling I must fulfill. The Purity Alliance must prevail." Akira declared. His voice shook in his throat.

"Say, where is my little Aito? And Miku? Will you send them here for me?" The old man asked.

Akira shook his head. "They're not home now. I need you to do something for me, grandfather."

The elderly patriarch nodded softly. "When can I see them?"

"I need you to trust in me..." Akira said as more tears fell down his cheeks.

"I do trust you, Aki. With my life I do."

Akira nodded. Then, activating his Quirk, particles of dust flew off of his hand that held his grandfather's so tightly, and then flew right into the old man's mouth and nose.

Suddenly he struggled, his body shook in the bed as he attempted to make noise with his weak vocal cords but it was too quiet.

Akira shut his eyes and yanked back his arm. The old man's body went still. His eyes and mouth shut. The heart monitor on the machine flatlined with a constant beep.

His hand grew back to normal and he quickly got up and ran out of the room.

The first person he ran in to was Tanjiro again.

"Akira, what is it?!" He asked, half-expecting to know the news.

"It's grandfather..."

1 WEEK LATER

Spreading the news went silently. The funeral was silent. And now, Akira sat alone in the large living room of the mansion, having ordered everyone to leave him that way.

He held out a small picture of his grandfather, much younger and healthier. Despite his dark history, he seemed like such a hopeful and happy family man.

Akira respected him as one.

"It had to be done, grandfather. I cannot wait any longer. My Miku and Aito are still out there and our future has just begun."

Suddenly, a flash of light emerged behind him, igniting the room in a magenta glare. And then two people stood before him, Miku and Aito.

No words were said as Akira embraced them both tightly. But something began to creep up on him that hadn't been there at all before so strongly: regret.

Akira's own father was considered spineless and foolish. And yet he was the one who insisted that hiding would bring in their opportunity for power. His only true connection to family was his grandfather, who taught him that power comes from family.

"How did you find us?" Akira asked.

"Kane." Miku replied. "He was a police officer."

"And where is he now?" Akira asked.

"We don't know but he helped us to escape. He knocked out the hero who tried to get to me." She said.

"...Deku." Akira hissed his name. "Not to worry, my darling. It's time we continued my grandfather's legacy. And when we strike, nobody can get in our way."

"So you plan to find more wives for me to toy with?" Miku raised an eyebrow at him.

"Exactly. But you will always come first as my favorite." Akira smirked and kissed her neck.

"But where will you find them?" His loyal wife asked.

"Get me Tanjiro. He has access to the Quirk database, being a member of the House of Councillors after all." The villain commanded. "It's time to rear up the next generation of conquerers."

Chapter Text

Deku arrived at the old warehouse district where the raid happened weeks ago.

The Tracking Hero: BloodHound was there already sniffing away at random wooden planks piled up.

"I'm here, BloodHound! Deku reporting for investigation!" The young hero proclaimed.

Although, the dog-like hero smelling the crime scene did not seem to acknowledge his presence at all.

"Show me where you stepped that night." He simply commanded, eyes still fixated on random objects in the room, sniffing at them loudly with his large canine snout.

"Where I stepped?" Deku repeated in confusion.

"Yes. You were here that night. I need you to show me every step you took and where." BloodHound explained.

Deku raised an eyebrow. Not even the Engine Hero: Ingenium was that analytical about his actions on a mission. Maybe...

"Try not to taint the scene with your scent. It helps me get a clear vision of where the villains went if you only walk wherever you walked." He continued.

"Okay...well. I barged in with the other heroes here." He quickly stepped in place in the large garage doorway.

"Mhmm. Go on." BloodHound instructed.

Deku nodded. "Then we split off to take down each of the villains. I fought the leader."

"Akira Hokori." BloodHound added for context.

"Then they blasted him with water and he sank into the drain."

The dog-like hero suddenly stood up straight. His ears seemed to perk up although they were mostly human. "Of course! The sewer!"

"If they called in someone as good as you, wouldn't we look for their scents at the police station?" Deku suggested.

"When you were knocked out, the child turned the entire front of the building and the street to dust. Someone with a nose like mine...around dust I get allergies and it ruins my whole Quirk." BloodHound said, finally turning to face him.

"Wait. So the child really does have that kind of Quirk? His mother could teleport but his father..."

"Don't get any ideas that'll lead us off into a wild goose chase. That happens to me when a crime occurs in a meat market. Happens more than I'd like." The tracking hero scolded.

"I've got a good feeling about it. Maybe it's a dead end lead. But maybe it won't be." Deku thought out loud.

"Tomura Shigaraki has been behind bars for a long time now. It's highly unlikely that he's a lead." BloodHound said.

"Check the sewers. Follow the scent of Hokori. Text me what you find. Call me if you find them. As for me, I'm going to Tartarus." Deku stated.

"I think that's a very bad idea. But if you strongly suggest that it's a possibility, then it probably won't be a complete waste of time." The dog-like man nodded then started to sniff around the sewer drain. "Good luck, Deku."

"Good luck to you, BloodHound." Deku replied.

Eri, Gomuhosu, Kota, and Katsuma were reclining in their normal civilian clothes in the main area of the dorms.

Katsuma had his face buried in a comic book based on the early days of All Might. (Keywords: based on, as some story elements and characters were exaggerated.) Gomuhosu was studying a physics book. While Eri and Kota simply looked at their phones.

"Excuse me."

Eri quickly looked up at a shorter girl, one of the shortest in their class. She had dark green hair, bigger eyes, and a simple lime green dress with black leggings.

"My name is Satsuki Asui, ribbit." She bowed. "Would anyone like to accompany me to the Kiyashi Shopping Mall today for some school supplies?"

"Your name is Satsuki Ribbit?" Kota asked.

"No wait, you remind me of somebody!" Eri jumped to her feet. "Are you related to the Rainy Season Hero: Froppy?!"

"Yes, she's my oldest sibling." Satsuki answered. "And no, my last name is Asui." She shut her mouth like she was holding something back.

"How far away is the mall?" Katsuma asked.

"Not far at all. Just a short train ride away." Satsuki answered.

"Beats sitting here all day." Kota said standing up.

"I agree." Gomuhosu added. "Going to the mall sounds like a fun activity."

"I guess we'll all go together!" Eri smiled. "And I'm glad I'm not the only girl here now."

Satsuki nodded and smiled. "You're Eri, correct?"

"Correct! And this is Katsuma, Kota, and Gomu!" Eri gestured to each of the boys.

"Gomuhosu Yamirato." He corrected.

"I like Gomu." Satsuki stated bluntly but innocently.

Suddenly his grey face turned a light pink. "Um, you can call me Gomu."

"Let's get outta here before this gets anymore awkward." Kota sighed, brushing through them and walking out the door.

The group made their way to the train station off of the campus and purchased their tickets. As they climbed aboard and sat down in two rows facing forward, they laughed and talked. Satsuki told stories of how her older sister used to babysit her and her older brother while their parents were away for work.

Each of them had something in common, someone they looked up to cared for them in some way they considered heroic. Froppy inspired Satsuki to be a hero too. But more than just a hero. She loved how much of a motherly figure Froppy was to her, so she uses her gentle nature to deescalate situations. Or so she says. The only practice she's ever had was on her brother, and two kids who were about to fight in the halls of UA.

Mr. Serizawa saw this in each of his students, and trusted them. Even as he saw them having exited the campus on security tapes.

"Hanta? May I have a word with you?" A soft voice spoke behind his chair at the faculty's meeting table. On the television ahead was a live feed of the students getting on the train.

Hanta Serizawa turned to face the principal, Nezu. "Of course, sir."

Nezu climbed up and sat down on the chair beside him. "It's only been a week and you already seem attached to your students, hm?"

"Honestly, sir. How could I not? People aren't kidding when they say each generation feels stronger than the last. Lots of the students have some of history's best examples of heroes as their own personal inspiration." He said with a small smile.

"Exactly. I don't often tell teachers how to teach their classes. But I do have one piece of advice for you, if you're willing to hear it." Nezu declared.

"Certainly." Hanta said.

"Ironically, everyone these students idolize idolized someone or something else before. But each of those inspirations learned that they could never be the same thing. Deku for instance, Izuku Midoriya. It's obvious he was a big fan of All Might's. For the first semester. Almost the entire year, even in the darkest of times, he tried to fight and tried to act like that of the great old Symbol of Peace himself. But even he could never live up to that name." Nezu explained. "He learned that although All Might had great wisdom and ideas, Deku had to take matters into his own hands, his way. My point is, teach your students to become their own heroes. They can fan over any heroes they want, but just like All Might, eventually those great symbols will leave us. Retire, die perhaps, maybe even unfortunately fall to corruption and despair."

"I see." Hanta sighed. "They'll exhaust themselves to be just like their heroes."

"That kind of drive is healthy for the most part. But eventually they'll need to find themselves in the mix. I need you to ensure that your teaching environment and their learning environment not only grow them to be great heroes, but also themselves." The wise principal counseled.

"Understood, sir." Hanta nodded and smiled.

"I wonder where the Deku fan club is off to this fine Saturday." Nezu wondered aloud.

"I think the mall. Lots of teens go there on days off." The young teacher answered.

Chapter Text

The Hero Deku passed through the high security checkpoints leading deeper and deeper inside the concrete box known as Tartarus.

He complied with every order and test he was given by the guards, each of them covered head to toe in body armor.

This place had taken every precaution possible for every single criminal and villain they ever captured. Certain parts of the prison had no metal or other components replaced with substitutes due to certain Quirks that controlled certain materials.

There was no courtyard. No windows. The electrical systems worked deep inside the thick walls covered in rubber so no electrical Quirks could take advantage.

The LED lighting that lined the halls and cells was dim. In some cells it was dimmer, in some it was brighter. Everything in the prison was fit for every individual patron and their powers.

And to top it off, every prisoner who was not strapped down in their cells or hooked to a set of automatic guns wore a small exoskeleton that made it hard to sleep, but it connected to their spinal cord, their arms, their legs, and the back of their head to monitor their Quirks and even suppress them.

Ever since All For One rotted in this place, the prison really grew in security. There were plenty of powerful Quirks that were sent here and every time they got a new prisoner, they programmed their cell to keep them contained regardless of the power they held.

Deku could really feel the tension in this place. All this evil in one spot manifested in the darker corners of the halls and the cells and in the shadows.

Despite the precautions and security, he still did not feel safe. Many of the people in here were put here by him.

The guards escorted him to the deepest cell in the center of the large cubic prison. Equal amount of security on all six sides of the box. The guards scanned a card key over a sensor unlocked by a code, and a sudden doorway opened up on the side of the cell.

They entered a room with a wall with a one-sided window. The other side of the window had specks of dust gathering on it but still plenty of visibility.

"May I speak to him in private?" Deku asked, refusing to keep his eyes off of the prisoner in the cell through the window, completely restrained in a full body jacket and all of the above security.

"Can't let you do that." The guard said.

"He may not talk if you're here." Deku stated.

"That's fair. He never does speak. But protocol is protocol." The guard responded.

"Ask the warden." The hero demanded. "I need this time."

The other guard sent a message to their warden via a communication device in his watch.

The prisoner looked up through his messy white hair. The guns pointed at him shifted.

The guards started to sweat under their suits.

"It's okay." Deku comforted them with his hand slightly up. "Tenko Shimura." He addressed.

The prisoner kept his eyes on Deku but remained silent.

"Let me make this clear: I'm here because I encountered a kid with a Quirk like yours and I want to know why." He started.

The prisoner did not react or answer. Only stare.

"I've been hunting a villain organization called the Purity Alliance. Does that name sound familiar?" Deku asked.

Again, silence.

"Their acting leader is Akira Hokori, and he has a wife. And together they had a kid. Now this kid used a Quirk to escape a police station and knock me unconscious. And I saw that everything around him turned to dust. Do you have any connections with this group and this kid?"

The prisoner's chapped lips curled into a small smile.

"Answer me, Shimura!"

"You know I won't answer to that name." He said with a raspy, thirsty voice.

"I beg to differ." Deku said with his eyes fixated on the villain. "So you do know these villains?"

"Classic Deku... As always, everything is black and white for you. Villain and hero." Tenko sighed.

"It kinda ends up that way." Deku said. "Now answer the question."

"Yeah..." Tenko said. "I knew Hokori. And the whole Purity Alliance. I knew about them. When I confronted Re-Destro, Hokori was there. He actually had a similar idea in mind: either convince the army to join his cause or he would kill their leader. I spoke to him once as we exchanged ideas. Philosophies. For him, hero society was okay. It just needed to prepare for the inevitable."

"Which is?"

"That each generation of refined Quirks passed down grows stronger than the last. Not just in One For All and All For One." He answered willingly.

"I know that much. But who is Hokori and who is his son?" Deku asked impatiently.

"Hokori...has many sons." Tenko smiled. "And his Quirk lets him turn himself into dust and control it, right? So it's only logical the next step in the evolution of such a Quirk by generation would be a Quirk much like mine... I sure pity the child."

"So he was trying to breed your Quirk? And you were never a part of them?"

"I've lived many lives, Izuku Midoriya. But an incestual rapist is not one of them."

Deku's eyes grew bigger in surprise.

"I don't know as much about the Purity Alliance as you think. But I do know that despite Hokori's personal demons, his influence is everywhere even in heroes, villains, and politicians." He let out a brief dry laugh.

Deku narrowed his eyes in anger.

"You may have spared me and put me in here, but you've just let an even bigger organization grow right under your noses. Typical heroes!" He laughed harder.

The hero stood tall and clenched his fist so tight, it released a small gust of wind that blew his hair. "I will find them and put them all in here with you, old friend."

Tenko resumed laughing. "Tell Ms. Uravity I said hi!"

Deku turned himself around and stomped past the guards. "I need to go." He told them as they quickly escorted him back through.

Uravity was once again sent home feeling sick. It has been happening for weeks. She would go out dressed in her hero suit and work for a few hours before coming down with sickness beyond her usual Quirk stomach aches from surpassing her limit. As of today, she feels like she's back in early high school having barely any usefulness with her Quirk. Probably even less than that.

Gunhead recognizes how strong she really is and is seldom soft on her. But when his heroes are feeling sick or injured, he does not let them work too much, or as much as they normally do. And he personally sent her home today.

Now, the brunette slumped on the couch in the living room and sighed loudly. Her stomach wasn't really aching. It was more just a sudden decision her body made to reject her lunch. And now in the Midoriya apartment, she quickly got up and went to the cookie jar.

As she stuffed her face full of the cookies, she heard a knock at the door.

Chapter Text

Back on the train, Katsuka, Kota, Eri, Gomuhosu, and Satsuki were sitting in two rows back to back. Eri sat closest to the window in her row while Satsuki sat closest to the window in the row behind beside Gomuhosu, their grey-skinned classmate.

"What are you guys getting from the mall?" Katsuma asked the two students in the back.

"What do they have at the mall?" Gomuhosu asked.

"You're kidding." Kota raised an eyebrow and looked back. "Bro, the mall has just about anything a teenager could think of."

"Even for hero students like us!" Eri added. "You guys will love it."

As the train continued to travel ahead on the straight track, Katsuma excused himself from the group to the restroom.

But as he walked past their car to the public train's restroom, he noticed a man walking at the end of the train dressed all in black. His long buttoned shirt was black, his long slacks were black, his shoes were black, and his skin wherever visible had black stripe tattoos as dark as his clothing.

He seemed to be patrolling the train for something. Or someone, like he was a bounty hunter. Or some blacklist hero.

The mystery of this man's identity buzzed at Katsuma in that moment so much he almost ignored his body's reminder that he needed to use the bathroom. So he shook off his fantasies and opened the door, but not before instinctively looking back at his friends.

On the other end of the train, a man with a square chin, a thick muscled body, and more natural tattoos marched down the aisle also looking around. The more Katsuma looked, the more he noticed the man's skin had a greyish tint to it like he just got dirt blown into his face.

As a future hero, he felt he should make sure everything was fine before he could leave his friends. He could hold it. And so he shut the door and barely took one step towards his seat when he felt someone's hand plant itself on his shoulder.

"Young man. May I see your ticket?"

Katsuma's face slowly turned to meet the skinny man in black from before.

"E-Excuse me?" The boy asked.

"Your ticket, please. Many troublesome teens about your age like to ride for free. Their excuse is usually using the bathrooms." The man explained.

"D-Do you work for the train? You don't look like a serviceman." Katsuma asked.

"Plumber. I fix the restrooms. Is there a problem?" He took his hand off, only to place it back a little more firmly. "I noticed you opened the door and didn't go in. Is there a problem?"

Katsuma looked back at his friends and shook his head. "No, there's no problem, sir."

"Good. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to check the other restrooms on the far side of this train before it reaches the next station." The man insisted. He took his hand off and continued to walk down.

The young hero in training felt something was off. The man wore no markings to suggest a uniform, especially that of a plumber or serviceman of any kind. He didn't even carry any tools. And he had the same look of determination as the stronger looking man at the end of the train, who was still making his way over here too.

Katsuma's feet froze as the man in black turned towards his friends.

"Tickets please, my dear?" He asked Eri specifically.

"We all have our tickets." Kota told him.

"My dear, I need to see your ticket. Come with me." The man demanded.

His patience was done. The act was up. The instant he reached out to grab Eri by the arm, Kota blasted him off of his feet with a jet of water.

As the man in black was thrown to the ground all the way at Katsuma's feet, Kota stood up ready to fight, when suddenly he was grabbed by the other tough guy from before. He grabbed Kota, wrapping his arms around, preventing him from moving his head and hands.

"You want a fight, kid? I'll give you one." He said with a smile.

"Now now, Stone..." The man in black groaned as he stood up. "A little water won't harm me."

"That was just a warning shot." Kota hissed.

"You got guts, kid, to wanna mess with Eclipse." The tough Stone guy chuckled as he kept his grip on Kota.

"Stone, release him. We are only here for the girl." The man in black, Eclipse said.

Katsuma's feet now blasted off. He threw his fist up as he screamed. The noise attracted Eclipse's attention, making him turn around in time for his face to meet Katsuma's knuckles.

His Quirk activated and he held his fist in place for what felt like several moments. Until he looked up and saw long black tentacles blocking his hit. In that split second of time, strips of Eclipse's clothing came to life, unwinding from his body and shielding his face from the punch.

He then thrusted his tentacles forward, rebounding the hit back and knocking Katsuma on his back, slamming the wind out of his lungs.

Gomuhosu quickly jumped up and threw a punch at the Stone crook's face, from an unnatural distance at where he was standing. His arm had stretched itself all the way and even enlarged to hit the villain's cheek. Yet the punch only made the villain shift his weight and move his head with a small grunt.

"You punk kids are gonna make me mad." Stone said tightening his grip on Kota.

Satsuki hopped out of her seat and stood in front of Eri.

Eclipse sighed. "This is such a waste of time. We only have sixty seconds before the train reaches the station." As he said that, the tentacles, as well as several more, peeling from his skin and body, snaking and slithering around him stretched forward to attack.

In just a few hits, the tentacles slammed into Kota's and Satsuki's stomachs and wrapped around them, pushing Stone back.

"Get the girl and let's go." Eclipse ordered.

Stone nodded. "Right." And he marched up to Eri. "Time to go, girl."

Eri was frozen with shock up until the moment his shadow covered the lighting inside the train over her face. And then, she clenched her fists.

"Without a second to think, you're ambushed by a villain!... Act quickly! No time to think! Use your basic instincts!"

"You never need to charge something head-on... Always be agile and think quickly. Your opponents will be bigger, meaner, and yet their goals and minds are clear: take you out."

"You want me?" She asked. Before he could answer, she threw her leg up right in between Stone's legs.

Even with whatever strength and Quirk he possessed, he yelled out and let go of Kota, who immediately jumped away and blasted Eclipse with a strong jet of water.

Katsuma struggled to stand as the Eclipse villain and Stone villain were blasted by large jets of water from Kota.

Eri, Satsuki, and Gomuhosu grabbed the curly-haired boy and dragged him towards the back behind Kota as he continued to spray the villains so hard that they couldn't stand back up.

The group slowly made their way to the rear end of the train and were seconds away from reaching the station, until the roof was ripped off clean and an ear-piercing scream blasted them all.

Chapter Text

"Jersey!" The Stone villain shouted.

As the two villains cornered the five teens at the back of the train, a new villain descended from the large hole ripped into the roof.

Katsuma's eyes grew big in their sockets. Along with his friends.

This villain had red skin, was very skinny, had digitigrade legs similar to that of a goat with cloven hooves instead of toes and three on each foot instead of a goat's usual two. He stood tall with large curved horns like a ram, only they twisted forward on the ends. And he had long naked arms with extendable fingers that were webbed like a bat's wings. As he stood before the group, his fingers shrunk down to black claws.

His yellow eyes met each of them, instilling a sense of dread in the young heroes in training, until he saw Eri.

"You're comin' with us, lil' missy." He said in a gravelly voice.

Eclipse quickly wrapped each of them up in his tentacles.

"I don't understand! We should be at the station by now!" Kota said.

Stone chuckled.

"I came from the front for a reason." Eclipse smirked. "Now, Jersey, take the girl."

The tall monster Quirked villain grabbed Eri from Eclipse's tentacles. He had a long tail that ended in a devil's fork which quickly wrapped around Eri's ankles and pulled her upside down.

"Eri! Use your Quirk!" Kota shouted.

"I can't!" She cried.

Katsuma and Kota looked at each other in horror.

The devil Quirk villain sprouted his wings from his hands and launched straight up into the skies above the train.

And yet, in that very moment, something flew right towards them from behind, sending them back inside the train, tumbling over Stone, Eclipse, and the kids.

Phasing through the back wall not a split second after, a tall, blonde hero came in with a large smile.

"Phew! I was worried I was gonna miss my train! You seem to be in a hurry...villains."

"Lemillion!" Eri scrambled out of Jersey's grasp and ran to the hero.

"Let these kids go." Lemillion ordered.

"Stone!" Eclipse shouted.

The rocky brute jumped to his feet and threw his fist at the hero's face, only for it to pass through like air.

Lemillion twisted himself around and landed a punch on the villain's ribs.

He only grunted, and got angrier.

"A stone Quirk, eh? That makes things a bit harder." Lemillion quipped.

"Puns piss me off!" Stone roared and swung another fist at the hero, only for it to pass through. Even so, Lemillion had to get the villain away from the kids. So he backed off with each swing, leading Stone on to believe that he was a threat. He still was, that is if he manages to land one blow.

"Quite a rocky start to this relationship, huh, Stony?" He continued to prod.

The villain roared and continued to thrash his fists, passing them through the hero's face and body.

"Stone you fool!" Eclipse sighed. "Jersey, take the girl!"

As Jersey hissed and reached out to Eri, Katsuma activated his Quirk at the highest point he could manage and tore through the tentacles like thick cloth.

He lunged forward and punched the monster's side. With great force, the villain fell into a row of seats, his horn getting caught in a seatbelt.

Eclipse regrew his ripped tentacles and grabbed Katsuma again, wrapping him around and around until the tentacles reached his neck.

"If you try anymore tricks, I will crush you." Eclipse threatened.

Kota, Gomuhosu, and Satsuki suddenly blasted him from behind with their various Quirks. Kota then managed to slice out of the tentacles with his water whip attack.

Satsuki's tongue wrapped around the villain's neck while Gomuhosu repeatedly punched him with his outstretched one free arm.

Kota quickly scanned the train cars ahead and saw Lemillion still distracting the muscle. Snapping back to his situation, he jumped away from incoming tentacles that had regenerated and faced the villain. He eyed where each of his friends were and took a breath.

"Water Grid Laser!" He announced as he swung his arms up and unleashed a series of water whip attacks at various grid-like angles and shapes that cut through all of Eclipse's black tentacles, freeing his classmates.

Eclipse attempted to regenerate his tentacles as Katsuma ran up to punch him.

However, Jersey tore from the confines of the small train bench and seatbelts and rammed his thick head against the boy, slamming him against the side of the train wall.

"Enough!" Eclipse's tentacles sprouted again, grabbing everyone, including Eri, by the neck. An additional pointed tentacle held itself out in front of each of their throats. "Killing was not on my agenda today. But I will if I have to!"

Meanwhile, Lemillion guided Stone back to a section of the train between the cars.

"Is this your plan? Dodge all of my attacks while yours do nothing but make me angrier?!" The villain questioned as he never stopped throwing his punches like a machine.

"That was just the first part!" Lemillion answered. "Now to tire you out!"

The hero quickly unleashed a punch across the villain's face, which made his knuckles ache instantly. Like he punched a boulder. Yet it was enough to stagger the villain for a split second. He then jumped up, gripping on to the grab rails for passengers standing in that area, and used all his strength to kick Stone in the chest hard enough that he fell back and tore through the thin wall like paper.

Immediately the rushing winds passing by flooded the whole area in loud roaring. Lemillion threw himself down, kicking the villain, who was now halfway out of the train, all the way.

Stone screamed as he was thrown out, catching the wind and slamming into an electrical pole.

Lemillion smiled, then rushed back to stop the other villains.

But in that instant, something silenced the winds from outside as a green flash blasted through the walls.

Eri smiled. "Deku!"

But Deku was not smiling. He was not careful about his entrance. He was unhinged. His eyes glowed as green electricity snapped and sparked all around him.

Eclipse and Jersey looked at each other and then back to him.

"Deku! What are you doing here?" Lemillion asked.

He didn't give an answer. Instead, Jersey sprouted his wings, picked up Eclipse, and flew out.

Deku jumped after them from where he was standing. Using Float, he basically flew after them higher and higher into the sky. Unleashing Black Whip, he grabbed hold of the Jersey villain's neck.

When he finally spoke, his voice boomed through the overcast sky. "What did you do to MY WIFE?!"

"Quickly, Jersey! Activate the bomb!" Eclipse shouted.

"But the girl!" Jersey protested.

"Just do it!" Eclipse ordered.

Jersey quickly pulled something out of his vest and flipped a small metal switch.

Deku's attention quickly pulled back down to the train and he instinctively let the villains go as he literally rocketed back down to the ground.

The train had stopped from the energy of his entrance in the middle of the tracks.

The first people he grabbed were the classmates, carrying them away to a safe distance before doing the same for Lemillion. But as he rushed back to save anyone else still on the train, it exploded.

The shockwave, knocked him and everyone else on their backs.

The green-haired hero coughed and got back up slowly, in shock of what had just occurred.

Lemillion rushed to his side before passing by with a quick pat. "Come on! We need to get any survivors to the hospital!"

Deku turned his head to face the young students. "R...Right!" He flashed away in a green ball of light.

Eri, Kota, and Katsuma, had never seen their hero so...threatening before. The power he possessed.

"He mentioned something happened to his wife?" Gomuhosu asked.

Eri and Katsuma looked at each other. "Uravity."

Chapter Text

The Nighteye Agency faced backlash the following week. Although they mostly did not blame Deku for the bombing, there were charges made on account of recklessness and interference. No call for assistance was given by Lemillion and Deku was supposed to be investigating the warehouse incident.

Thankfully, the Agency's attorney helped drop the harsher charges but Deku was sentenced to no longer work against the case. However, in the middle of the court, he cried out how the villains responsible kidnapped his wife.

At the same time, the police already knew and were investigating the Midoriya residence for clues. Ochako was no where to be found, but there were signs of a struggle. Furniture was tossed everywhere as if she used her Quirk on everything in the room. She would not go without a fight.

It was suspected that the Purity Alliance could be targeting the loved ones of all the pro-heroes involved in the warehouse incident. While Deku was placed under house-arrest to prevent any possible meddling in the cases, increased protection was enforced on the families of Red Riot, Tsukuyomi, Real Steel, and the others. Security at the UA dorms also increased to protect the students.

Late at night, Eri tossed and turned in her bed. Kai Chisaki was sitting at the foot of her mattress with his bird-like mask on.

"You are such a burden." He said. "Come. Let us fix you."

Thunder cracked in the dim light of the moon through the window to reveal his arms were missing. Yet everything around them seem to come apart and get back together at random. Particles from the bed and the walls floated around Eri's face, clouding her sight as a devilish figure flew from the shadows of the far, darker wall untouched by the light of the moon and lunged at her with piercing yellow eyes. His horrific scream shattered her heart and her ears.

Then Eri jolted awake and sat up mid-scream. She looked around her bedroom and saw nothing out of the ordinary. Once she knew she was safe, she began to cry.

After a brief minute of silent sobbing and clutching her Deku themed plush doll, she hushed herself as she heard voices outside her door.

"There you are! Go in there and see what's up with her!" One of her female classmates ordered someone.

The door opened then shut as Katsuma rushed in. "Eri? I-Is everything alright?"

"Yes. Just a bad dream." Eri insisted.

"Your horn is bigger." The curly-haired boy pointed out. "Are you sure you're alright, Er?"

She nodded silently.

"Is it about Deku?" He asked.

Eri shook her head. "Well. Kinda. It's everything."

Katsuma stepped toward her bed. "Um. May I?" He gestured to the edge asking in context to sit down.

Eri nodded again.

"I'm scared too."

The horned girl looked up and met eyes with her friend.

"I know it's not professional or manly or anything a real hero should be but I just... On the train, I just felt so useless." Katsuma admitted. He lifted his legs up and hugged them on her bed.

"Well, I know one thing. You're wrong about manliness. Just talk to Red Riot and he'll let you know." Eri said with a side smile and a tilt of her head.

"But I can't keep the fear away." He sighed. "When I was little, Deku risked everything to save my life. But there was a moment where no one was left to protect us. Just me and my sister. And I let her get between me and the villain..."

"You've told that story. And I remember Deku telling me that you ran to save her." Eri said. She reached over and wrapped her fingers over his arm gently. "I've talked with Deku here and there since the semester began. You and Kota are so much stronger than you both think. But Deku told me that you are so much like him, that it scares him more than you."

Katsuma exhaled. "In that moment, it seemed like nothing else mattered. I just wanted my sister safe. I wanted the fighting and the destruction to stop if it meant I'd lose my Quirk."

"You were willing to sacrifice. That's a true hero, Katsuma. I saw that in you myself on the train. Just because you couldn't fight those powerful villains doesn't mean you'll always be that unprepared or powerless. Failure does not make you less of a hero. I know that much." Eri explained.

He sat motionless in thought. Then, he looked her in the eyes again.

Eri sighed. "I get nightmares like this all the time. Just a side effect of being a child slave."

"Something was different though, wasn't it? Satsuki doesn't normally wake me up to talk to you." Katsuma questioned.

"No. She usually checks on me herself..." Eri giggled to herself. "I think she just wanted to give you a chance for once."

"Weird." Katsuma suddenly realized something and blushed. "Um. What?"

"Thanks for coming to check up on me, Katsuma. But you might want to get back to your own dorm before Mr. Serizawa catches you." She said.

The boy was a stuttering mess from that moment on. So Eri climbed out of her sheets and walked him to the door, but not before quickly kissing his cheek. "Don't tell Kota about this. I want you guys to be friends. He's just not that good with emotional stuff."

Before Katsuma could say anything about the last two seconds, she rushed him out and shut the door behind him.

Not another second later, Mr. Serizawa passed into the hall with a flashlight directly over the boy's face.

"Shimano, please tell me I have not caught you doing something you shouldn't." He said with an exhausted frown.

Katsuma froze up then looked around for any nonexistent alibis or help.

"How about two weeks worth of dorm chores. Does this make us even?" The teacher asked.

He sighed and dropped his head in defeat before nodding silently.

"Good. Now, straight to your dorm. Anymore sleep lost for me and I'll add two more weeks to your sentence." Serizawa declared.

Deku did not sleep that night. Not at all since the news. He wouldn't touch the bed, or the living room where it happened. He couldn't leave his apartment. He couldn't even don his hero suit. Just sit there for another two weeks. If it weren't for his recklessness in abandoning the warehouse investigation to attack the villains on the train, he would have been granted full access to the search for Ochako. His wife and best friend.

But he couldn't wait then. Why should he wait now? The weight of his emotions to his responsibility constantly shifted balance minute after minute. As a professional hero and a growing Symbol, he had a responsibility to uphold the laws that sustain him and the rest of hero society.

But on the other hand, being a hero means doing what's right no matter what. And not waiting for a moment of convenience to arrive.

Then again, even if he were to defy his subordinates. Where would he look? How would he find her and the Purity Alliance in time? Everything has since led to a dead end.

However, this was more than just another innocent civilian that needed his help. This was Ochako. His best friend and wife. The most important person in his life. In the hands of murderers and child slave owners. There's no telling how much time he had or what they might do to her.

They were taunting him. Testing him. They know there's nothing he can do about it.

One For All burned within his veins as his eyes grew bright green. His fists tightened, the force sending quick gusts of wind through the apartment.

He felt like a fire, building up and growing in power, trapped inside a box.

Chapter Text

Ochako looked around from her position. Currently, her wrists and ankles were bound to a bed frame. All she could discern in the dark room was that it smelled like a gym. Strong scents of sweat masked by cheap cleaning chemicals. The bed she was stuck to had a very rough mattress, very little cushioning. The right side of her face was sore. Probably from her attacker. Of all the enemies she and her husband had made over the years, none had ever succeeded in something like this. The Hero Commission Agency database was extremely secure. Even computer hacking Quirks could not get into it so easily without being traced.

As her vision came back and her eyes adjusted to the darker room, she noticed a young woman about her age strapped to a bed next to her own. But this woman had a large pregnant belly and she was squirming around, forcing herself not to make much noise.

The sound of a large metal door opened out of view as two people entered the chamber.

"And how is our new guest?" A male voice asked, addressing Ochako. "Comfortable, Uravity?"

She stayed silent, giving the man who now stood in her line of sight a death glare.

"We haven't been able to run tests yet, but you seemed like the perfect candidate for the mother of our children." He said.

Children? Ochako had heard about cases like this. Horrible men kidnapping women and breeding child soldiers with their bodies. Her husband was looking for them.

"Y-Yo-" She tried to speak but her throat was swollen. Her attacker must have choked her until she fell unconscious!

Before he could give her the chance to speak, he turned his attention over to the other person who came into the room with him, a woman, standing over the other prisoner's swollen body.

"She tried to hide it, my love. She is in labor." The woman said with a wicked smile.

Ochako gasped, before choking on the same gasp.

"No! No-no-no!" The young woman shouted. "Leave me alone!" She screamed.

"Get ready, Miku. She's all yours." The man directed.

The woman positioned her arms between the woman's bare legs. "Push!"

The man grabbed the younger woman's face. "Do as she says." He hissed.

"Push now!" She ordered.

The woman screamed and cried as her body pushed forward.

"Breathe." He said.

After minutes of this struggle, a baby's cries were heard as the older woman pulled away holding a newborn in her arms. "It's a girl." She said.

"Perfect." The man smiled. "Congratulations, Huni. You're a new mother." He stepped over to the woman holding the baby. "Give her a higher dose. Her hormones have worked it out of her system."

"Okay but you take the baby." She snapped, pushing the infant into his arms as she marched over to a large locked cabinet. After unlocking and opening it, she pulled out a syringe with a bottle of mysterious liquid before marching back and sticking the needle into the new mother's neck, emptying the contents.

Ochako watched everything horrified.

The man looked back and met eyes with her. "I almost forgot about you." He smiled as he held the crying baby in his arms. "Don't worry, your turn will come."

The woman walked over to her bed and positioned the needle over her neck.

"H-Hokori-" She gasped.

Then the needle plunged into her skin, and her pupils dilated.

The man, Akira Hokori, and the woman, his wife Miku, stepped out of the dark room and locked the door before entering a large chamber full of men, women, and children.

"Attention everyone!" Akira alerted them all loudly. "Meet your new baby sister!" He held up the newborn baby for everyone to see.

The crowd cheered out loud.

"Today is a victory! We have a new little one who will join our ranks in the next coming years. The heroine Uravity is going to be a new mother for our generations. And the meddlesome heroes are caught in their own wild goose chases!"

They cheered again.

"And thanks to the efforts of our brothers in the government, Tanjiro Takei of the House of Councillors and Kane of the police force, our way of life will be respected and protected by the time we emerge from the shadows. And from there, we will take the world!" He shouted.

"Not so fast, Akira!"

He turned his attention to Jersey, Stone, and Eclipse who stomped their way up to the front of the room. "Deku still lives."

"His superiors have caged him like a misbehaved dog." Akira said.

"Do not get cocky! That is one mistake your grandfather never made!" Eclipse snapped.

Akira glared at him.

"As long as he lives, he is still a threat. He has a history of engaging even before he's given permission to do so. He was on the verge of discovering us!" The tentacle-Quirk villain explained.

"Him and that phasing Lemillion guy." Stone added. "He knocked me out! I could have gotten arrested!"

"Stone is the last of us you would want arrested." Eclipse leaned forward to whisper. "He doesn't keep secrets."

"Hey!" Stone shouted.

"Enough!" Akira snapped at them both. He handed the newborn to Miku before turning back to his henchmen. "If Deku concerns you so much, then destroy him. But you must do it with no witnesses. No security. Nothing. Everything we do, we do in secret from now on. Especially after the literal train wreck you caused."

Jersey snorted, smoke blew from his nostrils. "What about the girl? The UA student?"

"She was a lost cause. A diversion. Uravity holds much greater power." Akira said.

"You don't think we should further pursue her?" Eclipse asked.

"She could be connected to Deku." Stone added.

"The security at UA could not be more strict and tight. You wouldn't even get close." The dust-Quirk villain said.

"...Not with Deku still alive, at least." Eclipse thought out loud.

Akira's eyes widened. "We'll discuss that girl more. For now, kill Deku. I need to focus on 'converting' our new breeding mother."

The three bowed to Akira before exiting through the crowd.

But before the leader turned back to Ochako's prison door, he had a thought and pulled out his cell phone, calling up Tanjiro of the House. "Takei. Yes, it's me. What do you know of UA High School?"

Chapter Text

Eri, Kota, Katsuma, and the rest of their class were back in session Monday morning. Their instructor simply stood at the front and stared down each of his students.

"Despite recent events, UA has decided to proceed with the annual Sports Festival." He announced.

Each of the students cheered or at least showed some form of excitement for one of the prestigious school's best events. Broadcasted all over the world! Every student being given a chance to shine.

"However." Mr. Serizawa spoke out, silencing them. "This is the first year they will be changing it up. UA is considered the best in terms of producing hero course students and even some exemplary support course students. But with each passing generation of heroes comes an even more ambitious generation of fans. The number of excellent hero course students from many of the world's top schools has grown exponentially. Rather than the World Heroes Agency give each school their own yearly Sports Festival, they are going to pilot a multi-school Sports Festival."

Each of the students look at him in shock.

He continued without interruption. "10 of the world's top schools will present their hero course students. 10 schools, 30 classes, almost 600 students. No general studies. No business studies. No support studies either."

"Six hundred students?!" Kota shouted.

Eri thought to herself. "In some ways it does make sense. There are more who want to be heroes than ever before and UA is not the only school to produce the best anymore."

Katsuma added his thoughts. "It's also understandable since the business, generals, and support course students don't get to shine in events that cater more to Quirks and how to fight with them. That usually applies to the heroes more than anything."

"Business students will still get to do their thing at the festival as well. The event will broadcast everywhere, from stadiums in home countries to living rooms." Mr. Serizawa said. "Now, I want each of you to train your Quirks but to also look around the room."

Each student did so. Eri met eyes with the other students, including her friends Kota, Katsuma, Satsuki, and Gomuhosu.

"The day of the Sports Festival, you will fight for yourselves. It's your day to show your worth. And in order to do that, you will have to outshine your friends, and beat them. Every generation of ambitious aspiring heroes-to-be has more and more competition. There's no shortage of heroes in the world. But Quirks are becoming harder to control for some. While villainous organizations may be diminishing, other problems are arising." He continued.

Eri gulped.

"Several Hero agencies will be looking for new interns. Get all eyes on you then."

The Deku Squad all looked at each other again.

"But most are only looking at one candidate at a time."

One female student in the back raised her hand. "Mr. Serizawa? If there are other hero schools coming, wouldn't that suggest hero agencies from other countries will be here as well?"

Their teacher nodded. "Most Japanese students won't have to worry about interning internationally. But if the opportunity comes and it's worth transferring, take it. But personally, I wouldn't trade anything for UA and the Hero Agencies of Japan."

Kota smirked. "Hell yeah, sir."

Later that night, after classes were out, Class 1-A returned to their dorm.

Most of the class members were already settling down in their individual rooms, but some were still out in the main living room and kitchen.

Kota tossed a ball into the air, catching it with the same hand as he laid on his back on the couch beside Eri and Katsuma, who was reading over his notes.

Eri looked over to him and snickered.

"What is it?" The curly haired boy asked.

"Nothing. It's just that, Deku would take notes like that. He seemed to have his nose in his notebook a lot." She smiled.

"I never actually saw that side of him. Not at first, at least." He said.

"Me neither. When I first met him was when he was patrolling with Mirio." Eri replied.

"Mirio?" Kota asked.

"Sorry, Lemillion." Eri added.

Both boys silently said "ohh."

"Every time I saw him growing up, it was always in his hero costume. It felt so weird seeing him on TV saving people after he went through so much to save me in person." Katsuma said.

"Same." Eri sighed.

"Same." Kota added. Changing the subject, Kota turned his head slightly to look at Eri. "You guys realize that the Sports Festival is only the beginning right?"

"The beginning of what?" Katsuma asked.

Kota sat up. "It's nice to get to meet another Deku fan. And I guess it's been fun. But Heroes are not friends. It's unprofessional and unrealistic. We'll always be competing for the top."

"I did a little research after Serizawa's class. Deku's Agency isn't even looking for interns..." Eri added.

Each of them lowered their heads. "Poor Deku... After all he's done for us. He has to stay under house arrest."

"Uravity is still missing too." Gomuhosu added. He and Satsuki had been playing a game of chess at a small table behind the couch, listening to the three talk.

"Deku is my hero. But I don't believe heroes should have relationships with other heroes." Kota stated.

Eri snapped her head at him. "Oh is that right?"

"Yeah! Is there a problem, Eri?" He asked with his eyes sharpened.

"Your parents were both heroes." She said in a low but stern voice. "They were a team."

"Do not start that with me." Kota hissed.

"Why do you believe this, Kota?" Katsuma said, finally putting down his notebook.

"Because heroes are too busy for relationships. It's already dangerous enough that they have families with civilians to protect. But being in a relationship clouds judgment. You naturally prioritize loved ones over strangers. Villains test this all the time in movies and TV shows and comics, and in real life."

"Are you insisting that your parents died because of that?!" Eri snapped.

"Eri, wait." Katsuma grabbed her shoulder softly.

"NO!" Kota shouted. "Well, maybe! My point still stands! I can't be with you just like we can't be friends! I'm training to become a hero, not a team. I need to prove myself to Deku at the Sports Festival and together we'll destroy that Purity Alliance group!"

"...Can't be with me?" Eri parroted him.

Before he could think of an answer, Kota simply stormed off to his room.

Katsuma sighed. "Hero life is competitive. But he's wrong. For all the times I knew Deku and watched him save people, I also know he wasn't-"

"Stop. Just stop, okay?!" Eri snapped. Her face had turned red and her horn grew twice in size, glowing yellow. "I... I need some time to myself."

"Eri, wait!" Katsuma jumped up as she stood up.

"Don't touch me!" She warned him as she ran to her door.

Katsuma watched her run away with his arm out to her.

Gomuhosu and Satsuki had stopped their game to watch. "Shimano, are you okay?"

"I'm... I guess I'm fine." He answered.

"You are right. A pro-hero career is extremely competitive and we'll especially see that at the Sports Festival. Friendships could be tested. But they can still exist even if you're always not on the same side. My advice to you now is to analyze your friends' Quirks and find strategies and counters for them. We're all mature for our ages. True friendships can last anything. Kota and Eri just may take some time to understand that." He explained.

Katsuma nodded. "As usual, you're right, Yamirato."

"I noticed the way you three reacted when Kota admitted his feelings for Eri." Satsuki stated bluntly, a quality inherited from her older sister. "Do you like her too?"

Katsuma's only answer was a heavy red blush on his face. "Oh gee look at the time! Goodnight, guys!"

Chapter Text

The day of the International Sports Festival finally arrived. But ever since that night, none of the Deku Squad would do any more than look at each other. Today they were not supposed to behave as friends, but as rivals even if participating in trials that placed them into teams.

Nevertheless, Eri, Katsuma, and Kota, among their classmates each felt a sense of pride as they marched on to the gigantic stadium floor in front of literally thousands of visible onlookers, with probably billions more across the planet.

Eri swallowed her anxiety. Having been raised by Shouta Aizawa mostly, she also adopted different quirks from members of the original Big Three at the time: Mirio Togata, Tamaki Amajiki, and Neijire Hado. Sometimes, being in the spotlight gave her nervousness. But she combatted it with a big smile.

"And there they are! UA's Class 1-A!" Present Mic shouted on the intercom system, while the entire stadium began to cheer. The teacher quickly announced each class from each school as they marched out of different large arched entryways into the colosseum.

Kota looked around at all the hundreds of students donning different colored uniforms based on their representative schools. He frowned and stared ahead.

Katsuma looked up at the camera as their class stood in line in an organized sea of sports uniforms. He wondered for a moment if Deku was watching.

He was. But not from his apartment. Deku could not sit by and wait for his wife to be rescued. He had to be sure she was safe. Yet he took some time to pull out his phone and watch from the broadcast perched on a roof in his hero costume.

All eyes were on them. Even Akira Hokori turned on the television in their secret lair for their people, and for Ochako to see.

"Think of this as a recruiting program. Look for interesting Quirks, and look for those who can handle this much stress facing so many opponents at once." Akira said.

Ochako ignored him, as she had been doing, and focused on Eri, and the others.

Up on a stage in the far end of the stadium, the Rabbit Hero Mirko stood holding her own microphone, wearing her usual white hero costume. Because of her injuries in the villain war years back, she switched careers and became a teacher for UA as a favor to her late friend and previous teacher, Midnight. On the side, she acts as a personal trainer to retired heroes and various others, also having released a line of exercise DVDs.

"Welcome young heroes near and far to the first ever International Sports Festival!" She called. "It's very empowering to see so many faces eager to become the next generation of do-gooders!"

Up on a large floating cube above the stadium, there was a pixelated list of every name on the field in randomized order, within their own schools.

"This year's competition will be simple: thirty students randomly selected will fight for control over a raised platform atop a large pyramid positioned in the center of the ground!" Mirko announced. "Every student will have their chance to compete in the 20 matches! Each match will only last 60 seconds. Whoever controls the top the longest wins that match! Then the 20 winners will compete once more. No holding back now!"

"So it's like a big King of the Hill match!" One student from an American school thought out loud.

Mirko's smile dropped. "Do you want me to crush you, boy?!" She barked at him through the microphone.

"Yes, please." He blurted out almost without hesitation. His female classmates each slapped him in the head.

The Rabbit Hero sighed then forced her smile to come back. "Anyway, we have a lot of students to get through today and no time to waste!"

"This is it..." Katsuma thought.

The students were pushed away from the center of the stadium floor as it opened up to a giant white pyramid with a flat top, just large enough for a few people to stand on.

"I thought only one person is supposed to stay on the longest?!" One student called out with a green uniform and large crab-like claws for hands.

"Yeah!" Several other students audibly agreed.

Mirko simply licked her lips and smirked. "This just makes it more fiery. More to worry about than you thought. Don't worry, there's even more to come."

"Outstanding." Gomuhosu stated.

Satsuki grabbed his hand and gently squeezed before letting go. "Good luck." She told him.

He turned his head and nodded. "Same to you." He smiled.

Eri playfully punched both of her guy friends on the shoulders. "Hey, no hard feelings, right boys?"

Katsuma nodded. "In order to become heroes, we have to be a little competitive."

Kota scoffed. "I'm going to beat both of you. I'm ready."

Katsuma took his mind off of Deku and turned back to Eri. "Wait, your powers?! How are you going to do this?"

"How did Deku get as far as he did?" She asked him, with her eyes fixed on the pyramid. "I got this." The horned girl proclaimed.

The first matchup was decided, the first 30 students selected. "Gomuhosu Yamirato! UA, Class 1-A!" Mirko called out as she pulled out his name from a large jar full of the 600 students' names on paper.

Their friend gulped as he stepped forward. "Here goes everything." He said as he marched forward to join the 29 other students from other countries. There was one other student there from Shiketsu High School with large round bubbles all over his skin.

"UA..." He hissed at the grey-skinned cartoony student.

"Beg your pardon?" Gomuhosu asked.

He did not answer back.

"I can tell this first match is going to be fun." Mirko snickered. "We got some local Japan school rivalry here!"

Various people from the crowd were cheering on "U-A! U-A! U-A!" While others shouting "Shi-ketsu! Shi-ketsu! Shi-ketsu!"

"Competitors! Take your positions on any of the 30 starting positions at the base of the pyramid!" Mirko ordered.

Up above, Present Mic and Vlad King were giving out the performance records of each student within the roster.

"Gomuhosu has been a mystery all semester! He was among other UA students to encounter villains a few weeks ago! His Quirk seems...okay, but his performance? A total wildcard!" Present Mic. "I gotta admit though, his whole 'old timey' cartoon aesthetic is kinda creepy!"

"He's certainly not given himself a spotlight, that's for sure. So there's not much to talk about other than his appearance." Vlad King added.

Gomuhosu sighed, closing his eyes and attempting to drown out any distractions.

The Shiketsu student was unfortunately positioned in the spot closest to him near one of the corners. "Just give up, UA! I've been waiting a long time to give my school the recognition they deserve!" He shouted.

"Competitors, prepare yourselves!" Mirko commanded.

Deku heard someone from behind and turned off his phone, quickly engaging them.

Akira Hokori laughed as he watched his television screen with his family and fellow cultists.

Ochako winced at a kicking bump in her stomach, but went back to the TV in her room from her bed.

Eri, Katsuma, Kota, and Satsuki watched their friend closely as the buzzer went off.

Chapter Text

The grey-skinned Rubber-Hose student quite literally twisted his legs unnaturally into spring shapes then launched off his spot as the buzzer went off.

Everyone watched in shock, and some in disgust. But the jump wasn't enough to get up the tall pyramid. He only rose a few levels above the others and quickly attempted to do it again before someone blasted his ankle with a projectile that instantly turned into freezing water. Within seconds it froze against him.

"Good one, Tadashei!" The bubble-skinned Shiketsu student cheered his nearby classmate.

"It was nothing." The student replied. He had hard white hair that resembled shards of ice that stuck up. "I could do the same to you too after all, Hashi."

"Ha! You'll have to catch me first!" The bubble-skinned student scoffed. He bounced on his feet and rocketed up the steps.

"It seems he can use his bubbles to bounce off of objects!" Gomuhosu thought. "I underestimated these guys and I was too slow!"

"I'd resist the urge to squash and stretch if I were you." The ice-blast Quirk student warned him as he passed by, trying to shoot anyone else rushing up in his field of vision.

Gomuhosu cursed to himself. "I have to break this ice!" He told himself. His hand grew to the size of a bowling ball as it formed a fist and slammed down on his frozen foot. The ice shattered like glass and he was freed.

Immediately, the ice user turned back to fire another blast.

The cartoonish student threw a punch at him, which traveled the few flights of stairs until it hit the opponent straight in the jaw.

"Yes!" Gomuhosu ran up as he retracted his elongated arm, but noticed his whole fist had frozen over.

"You can't get a hit in without getting hit yourself." The ice user said as he staggered on to his feet again. His nose bleeding.

"Man this is so unfair." Eri said.

"But it's realistic." Kota added. "Heroes will face villains with Quirks that can counter theirs all the time. Rubber boy will have to think outside the box here to get past this guy."

"Domo Hashi from Shiketsu High has made it to the top with several others on their way! Will anyone be able to usurp him?!" Present Mic announced loudly.

"Please don't use your Quirk into the mic." Vlad King added.

Gomuhosu and the ice user, Tadashei, both looked up and saw the bubble user holding his ground at the very top as other students attempted to hit or grab him off. But each touch just bounced off his skin before he kicked or shoved them down.

"You're just gonna let him win?" Gomuhosu asked.

"No."

"You know this isn't about school representation, it's about yourself." He insisted.

"I intend to take his place and win. Right after I pick you off." Tadashei stated.

"Then do it. Your obvious bias against my school is clouding your perception, just like your friend there." The rubber student explained.

The ice user blasted at Gomuhosu's feet again, only for the UA student to leap high into the air, but this time instead of running and instead of an obvious attack, he dropped down and flattened himself, slipping under the ice user's feet then ripping himself out.

Tadashei grunted and fell down the steps all the way back to the bottom.

The crowds began to cheer excitedly.

He waited to see that the Shiketsu student was not hurt too badly before continuing his ascent.

Hashi had taken out most of the students already. Anyone who wasn't currently tumbling down the pyramid was battling each other up the steps.

"Look who it is!" He noticed Gomuhosu running up, dodging a nearby German student's melee attack and keep going.

"Come on, Yamirato..." Katsuma said under his breath.

Eri grabbed his hand from between their legs.

"Let's see who's the best hero school!" Hashi roared.

"I agree." Gomuhosu replied. He sprung up again, enlarging his fist. The cameras got ready.

Hashi's fist met up with Gomuhosu's and despite the size differences, they slammed into each other, knuckles to knuckles, and for a moment it held them in that position with great force as two elastic objects had collided and forced themselves together.

"I need more pressure!" Gomuhosu thought to himself.

"Ahaha!" Hashi laughed maniacally. "You're just not enough for me!"

The cartoon hero thought quick before he forced all his mass into his fist, shrinking in size as his still-clashing hand grew even bigger. Now about the size of a large dog.

Still, Hashi laughed some more. "Gotcha." He then jumped off his heels, adding additional force to the punch, which launched Gomuhosu into the air.

He jumped up higher and kicked Gomuhosu straight in the jaw, blasting him down the steps into the other students.

Just then the timer went off and Hashi stood triumphantly on top as crowds cheered his name.

"Domo Hashi from Shiketsu High is the winner of the first match!" Present Mic announced, although not as loud and happy as he would anyone from UA.

Satsuki gripped her seat next to Eri and lowered her head as she watched the robotic medical team carry the injured off the field, including Gomuhosu. "My sister gave me some advice when I was accepted into UA." She said.

"Huh? What was that?" Eri asked.

"'Make friends but don't fall in love.'" She quoted. "I'm not like her. I can't hold my emotions."

Eri's heart nearly broke as she noticed round tears stream down her friend's cheeks. "We may be aspiring heroes. But we're still teenagers. Sometimes you can't help but grow feelings for each other."

Katsuma nodded. But then he let go of Eri's hand.

Kota looked over and frowned.

"I just don't like seeing him get so hurt... He was so close..." Satsuki sniffed.

"Even though not all of us will win today, that doesn't mean we won't have chances ever again." Katsuma said. "Deku didn't win."

"Yeah but despite the attention he got, nobody wanted him for an intern." Kota added in. "Today is not about feelings and friendships. Even those Shiketsu nerds were against each other."

"But we can be good sports, right?" Eri asked.

"Right." Katsuma said.

Kota stared at her. "Whatever. I'm gonna destroy you guys out there."

"You'll have to beat the other 29 students you're up against too." Eri said with a smirk.

"I will." Kota declared.

"I dunno. That's what Yamirato thought." Eri shrugged.

"We'll take his loss as a lesson to be learned." Katsuma said. "I'm sure Yamirato will do the same."

Eri turned back to her froggy friend. "But hey, Yamirato does have a cool Quirk. Did you see how he squished his whole body into that punch?"

"Hey, yeah!" Katsuma quickly pulled out a notebook and pen then began to write. "The applications to his Quirk are so cool! And his goofy appearance probably adds some positive attention from adults and children."

"See, Satsuki? He may have lost today but I'm sure he'll be okay. He did good." Eri said.

"Even so, today is about winning. Being the best. That's what Deku would want. We can whine about our losses tomorrow." Kota sighed before reclining back in his seat.

Minutes later, the next match began. Although none of the four sitting together were called. Not for several more matches after that. Still they watched with anticipation as a UA student or even another classmate fought to the top. Some would get a few seconds while others actually won.

Overall, despite being overrun by other schools, UA still showed to be slightly higher than the others on most of the scoreboards.

"Only two matches left before the final round with all the victors!" Who will come out on top?!" Present Mic shouted, hyping up the crowds furthermore.

Of the names called for this next round, Satsuki and Eri were both called.

Kota laughed. "What was that about being friends today, Er?"

Both girls looked at each other.

Eri stuck out her hand. "Friends to the end?"

Satsuki stared at her hand for a moment with her large eyes before gripping it with her own. "Friends to the end." She smiled and ribbited.

Chapter Text

Satsuki and Eri walked down to the arena along with the twenty eight other contestants. At this point in the festival, there were only a handful of UA students left among the crowds of international schools. So there were more eyes on them here than before.

When Present Mic announced them both, they had each given the other a comforting smile. But beneath that, neither of them wanted to break the idea that they could somehow win together.

"Satsi." Eri said, addressing her froggy classmate by her own nickname. "I don't care what Kota says. We can work together."

"Eri, I'd love to do that. But in seriousness, do you have a plan? Your Quirk isn't built for this kind of showing off." Satsuki was with Eri. Her only worries were obviously brought up.

"Deku didn't have full control of his Quirk during his first time. I'll just have to improvise." The silver haired girl said with a thumbs up.

Satsuki nodded. "I understand. But you shouldn't model everything you do after Deku."

Eri sighed. "I got this, okay?"

The froggy girl nodded again.

"Hey UA."

The two turned their heads to see a girl from an American hero school, as displayed on her unnecessarily tight sports uniform with the American flag. Come to think of it, her body was way too voluptuous for her to be a high schooler. It made cameras turn on her and flash at her every move. But she did not seem to mind the attention. In fact it looked as though she grew confidence from it.

"You're the only two from that prestigious dump for this round. So I'll be keeping an eye on you." She snickered.

"Just ignore her, Satsi." Eri huffed and stared ahead at the pyramid.

"Kinda hard to when she takes up a wide range of everyone's peripheral vision, ribbit." Satsuki said bluntly.

The girl stiffened as she heard that. "Did you just call me fat, Miss tadpole?"

"Just remember the plan." Eri whispered.

"Eri, you still haven't told me the plan." Satsuki stated.

But it was too late now. The buzzer went off, and the students immediately began dashing up the pyramid's sides.

Eri launched herself up and focused everything she had at the moment to avoiding everyone around her. Satsuki groaned and followed after her, able to keep up gracefully with her frog-like legs. The two had just a few steps left before they reached the top platform, but then the American girl suddenly appeared, out of thin air in front of Eri. Only she was in her underwear.

The two girls screeched in surprise as the girl laughed and swung her fist into Eri's chest. "Hah! If you had breasts like mine, that probably wouldn't have hurt as much."

Eri coughed but before she could fall back, Satsuki caught her with her tongue.

"WHERE ARE YOUR CLOTHES?!" Eri sputtered and yelled.

"Can't teleport with them. But my underwear was specifically designed for my Quirk. Too many pervs out there." She shrugged. As she stood there, striking a pose or two for the hungry cameras, the scoreboard was counting up her points.

"Eri, she's going to win if we don't knock her off!" Satsuki said.

The silver-haired teen groaned and lunged toward the American. But she teleported away, instantly reappearing behind her.

Satsuki shot her tongue at the opponent, but she only dodged it, teleporting out of sight. Before she could retract her tongue in time, it slapped Eri's face.

"Eri!" She called.

Eri began to see double as she stumbled around. Despite this mess of a fight, both she and Satsuki were gaining points on the scoreboard.

But it was short-lived as the American girl teleported between them and swung her leg around, striking them both before teleporting away.

"Where is she?" Satsuki asked.

"Satsi... I don't feel so good..." Eri slurred.

"Eri?" Her friend asked.

The teleporting American girl appeared once again and punched Eri in the gut.

"That's enough!" Satsuki leapt at the girl fast enough to catch her just as she was teleporting away.

Both girls were teleported several feet into the air above the pyramid landing on top of the hovering scoreboard itself. As Satsuki realized where they were, she dropped to the ground as she realized her clothes were missing.

"Oops. Guess you don't have teleporting underwear." The American chuckled. "How embarrassing."

Before any cameras could follow, Satsuki hid herself behind the screen.

The American laughed. "You just gonna forfeit because you're afraid to show off?"

Meanwhile Eri was becoming increasingly dizzy as she struggled to maintain her balance on the pyramid top. Now several contestants were approaching her to fight.

She waited for the first boy to grab her with tentacles that sprouted from his mouth, but she somersaulted to the side and swung her leg, knocking him off his feet. She then attempted to jump on top of him but missed, her dizzying vision playing tricks on her. That's when he grabbed her again successfully and tossed her down the steps.

The last of her energy was spent as she blacked out cold hitting her head.

The buzzer went off again. The chaotic match was over.

Eri woke up in the UA infirmary. In the bed next to hers was Gomuhosu, who had the television on broadcasting the events of the last match on replay. She looked on in horror as Satsuki hid herself shamefully behind the scoreboard while the American girl laughed at her, before teleporting back down and taking out the tentacle boy and any other students. She was declared the winner for most time on the platform.

Her name was Katelyn Sparx.

"...What happened to Satsuki?" She asked weakly.

"She insisted that she wouldn't leave the scoreboard space until the cameras turned off for commercial break. From what Recovery Girl told me, she was given a blanket and ran to her dorm room." Gomuhosu answered.

"What happened to me?" Eri asked.

"From what I saw, Satsuki might have discovered a new extension of her Quirk. Poison tongue." He described. "She accidentally hit you trying to hit that American girl. And you started looking sick from that moment on. But how you were able to keep fighting was impressive, to say the least. If I'm not mistaken. I think that you got second place."

Eri sat up and hugged her knees. "Are you kidding? That was awful..."

As the television replayed the footage and various news anchors laughed about it, Eri's biggest insecurity came back to her mind: She can't be a hero with this kind of Quirk.

Kota and Katsuma ran in the room. "Eri!" They called to her in unison. "Are you alright?!"

She nodded. "Guys, you're both in the last match."

Katsuma sighed. "Are you doing okay?"

"Yes I'm fine. Everybody loses now and then."

"We just wanted to see you before the match." Kota declared.

"Both she and Satsuki aren't taking their defeat well." Gomuhosu said. "But maybe you should focus on your match right now."

"But-"

Kota put his hand on Katsuma's shoulder to stop him. "We need to go. I need to talk to you before the match."

Chapter Text

There they stood. Katsuma and Kota face to face in the hall leading out to the stadium.

"W-We should get going. It's going to start soon." Katsuma suggested. He wanted to avoid this confrontation anyway.

"I need to get something straight with you." Kota stated.

"Is it about being heroes together?" Katsuma asked. "Like what Asui and Eri suggested?"

"Partially." The spike-haired Water Jet Quirk user sighed. "I mean it when I say that I will do everything I can to beat you today. Because you're as much a threat to my victory as anyone else out there."

Katsuma nodded. "I can understand the competition."

"So you'll treat me as an adversary as well?" Kota asked, cocking one of his pointed eyebrows at his classmate.

Katsuma nodded again after a second of thought. "I will."

"Good. Because I also want to let you know, Eri is not open to being flirted with."

The curly-haired boy's eyes widened. "Is that was this is about? Is he jealous of me and Eri?" He thought.

"Is she with you?" Katsuma asked. Not in a tone like his question was serious, more of a challenge at Kota. As he asked it, he looked his classmate in the eyes after facing down.

Kota's fists tightened. "It'll be for her to decide. But her choice is obvious."

Katsuma personally felt that if Eri liked anyone more than just a friend, it was himself. He wasn't one to hold on to such hopes and feelings. He's had crushes before but never really let it get to him unlike his drive to become a hero.

"I'd like to know why you think that, Kota." Katsuma declared. He narrowed his eyes, hoping for a better answer than just some stupid comment about how much better Kota was than him in general.

Kota cut the conversation and stormed out because the whistle was blown for the remaining students to enter.

"I hope you're watching me, Deku..." Kota thought to himself as he marched on to the arena floor towards the pyramid. Around him, the other students walked at the same pace. All their faces had the same look of determination. Their eyes burned whenever they happened to look around and meet.

Katsuma followed behind and looked up at the crowds still watching in just as much anticipation as they had the very first match.

The forty students got into place on the pedestals in sheer silence.

"Boy, a real talkative group, this one!" Present Mic announced on the intercom.

"Same as before. The one who holds the spot at the top for the longest wins!" Mirko announced from her stage. "Try not to bleed everywhere. It's more to clean up." She snickered.

Kota and Katsuma were at opposite sides of the pyramid, practically facing each other. Katsuma certainly didn't plan for that. But maybe Kota did.

Eri watched from the infirmary with other students. "Oh no... Guys, what are you doing?" She asked them indirectly.

Katsuma closed his eyes to focus. "You have a point, Kota. There's only one victor today. Whatever you are to me: friend, rival. Today, right now..."

The whistle blew out and his eyes opened.

"You're my opponent!" He thought as he charged forward as his Quirk sprang through his cells. With great speed, he easily passed all the other students as they clashed and scrambled over each other to get up the steps.

"It looks like Katsuma's in the lead! A good head-start!" Present Mic shouted.

Before long, he reached the top and instantly met his gaze with Kota, who used his water to blast himself up.

Katsuma gasped and ducked as Kota immediately whipped a stream of clear water at his head.

He did it again at Katsuma's feet. The Cell-Activation Quirk user not only dodged the attack but lunged at his classmate.

Kota blasted into the air as an endless jet of water blew from both of his palms.

"My Quirk, and anything else I can do is pointless from a distance." Katsuma thought as he analyzed Kota in the sky. "But if he wants to win so badly, he'll have to come down."

Kota growled as he noticed Katsuma's score growing on the leader board. He angled his hands and began to spin directly above the pyramid.

The water began spiraling down at great speed. While Katsuma's face was out of the way of the streams, his shoes were growing wet and he realized just how much water was being forced downward.

The other students began to lose balance as the pyramid grew slick and wet.

"Kota Sosaki seems to have turned the entire arena into a Slip-N-Slide!" Present Mic stated the obvious.

Katsuma tried his best not to move, but the water picked up even more the more Kota spun above him. It began to generate a current that actively pushed his legs, not just gravity.

With quick thinking, although not the brightest idea, Katsuma threw himself down on the pyramid's top and thrusted both of his fists into the concrete.

They stayed there, anchoring him down as the water's force increased, flushing everyone down.

However, he was entirely submerged.

Present Mic explained the situation as quickly as everything was occurring. All eyes were now glued to the two rivals at the top.

Kota began slowing down, because his Quirk was beginning to wrinkle his skin and additionally because he didn't see directly beneath.

Seconds passed as he lowered himself on to the platform and watched the board as his number began to rise. But Katsuma's was still rising too.

His head shot over to Katsuma who began coughing and spewing out water as his head finally broke through and the streams stopped.

"What?!" Kota glared at him and saw his fists still stuck in the ground. "You idiot!" He ran over and kicked Katsuma's side.

The freckled, curly haired boy groaned loudly as he loosened his grip on the pavement. His wrists and knuckles were cut up but his Quirk was still in overdrive.

Kota roared and blasted him with water in the same place he had kicked him. But the water wasn't as strong as he could get it before.

Katsuma couldn't find a grip fast enough as the water both bruised his already injured side and pushed him off the edge. Yet at the last second, he gripped the end tight enough to crack it.

Kota blasted his hand as he attempted to climb back up. Instead, Katsuma jumped up with great speed and height over the blast, flipping over Kota's head and landing on his feet, to then turn himself around with his leg firmly out, round-housing Kota's ribcage.

The teen yelled out as Katsuma's shoe broke something inside him.

He reacted quickly by placing his hands on both sides of Katsuma's head as water circled around his skull. His head was now covered in the gravity-defying water that was now circulating around in a bubble between Kota's hands.

The audience gasped and screamed throughout it.

"Mirko, Cementoss! Stop this match!" Mr. Aizawa shouted out to her.

Katsuma began to choke as air bubbles escaped his mouth and nose. He threw his fist forward and hit Kota in the jaw. He then collapsed instantly with the water.

Katsuma too fell to the ground unconscious right after his classmate. And then the whistle blew.

Chapter Text

Ochako grunted as she wriggled her wrist back and forth in her right restraint, the side that faced away from the metal door. It was nice of her captors to give her a television to play the UA International Sports Festival, but she wasn't exactly in a position of comfort, having literally been kidnapped and strapped down to a hospital bed.

Luckily, all she could do other than watch whatever they had playing on the TV screen, was focus on her trapped body. So much time had passed yet she couldn't tell how much. Days for sure.

After hours of struggling in between periods of rest, she could feel that her right wrist strap was more loose than the others that held her left wrist and ankles.

"If I really am pregnant, I shouldn't use my Quirk on my bed. I can't do anything until I get out of these straps." Ochako thought.

She couldn't find any obvious way to loosen her strap any further, so she switched tactics to something more subtle. The base of her small hand was tight against the rough edges of the black strap and beginning to mark her skin as she pulled and wriggled. Her muscles in her hand ached as they were tightened up. The only way to pull it through was something truly desperate.

"I have to get out of here and alert the authorities. Not to mention, Deku could make a mistake looking for me..."

She turned her head around and got a good grip of her pillow in her mouth. She bit down as hard as she could as she forced her knuckles through the strap. She screamed and cried out through the thick cushion as she heard her bones pop.

Her thumb and pinky finger were broken, or at least dislocated. But through some pain, she could still move her pointer, middle, and ring fingers in the cool air. Her hand began swelling as she raised it slowly to mess with the buckle holding her left hand.

Before she could pry it open, she heard footsteps outside and quickly swung her free arm back in place, as if it was still strapped.

"Well well..." The female commanding voice hissed in the doorway. She stepped toward Ochako's bed slowly. "While the baby is not Akira's, we can still raise it as our own." She said. "I haven't introduced myself to you properly. I am Miku Hokori, first wife of Akira."

Ochako kept eye contact with her, hoping that it would distract her from her hidden arm.

"You'll learn to like it here." She said. "It's only bad now because you want to escape."

The heroine glanced down at Miku's hand and noticed a syringe.

"Wanna know what this is?" She held it up. "All you need to know is that it'll help you calm down." She approached Ochako's bedside.

As she raised the syringe to Ochako's upper arm, the brunette heroine swung her free hand over and tapped Miku's hand. Her Quirk has grown as she has in her adult years. Similar to Shigaraki's Quirk awakening, Ochako no longer needed to tap someone with all five fingers. The only ones to hit Miku were her pointer, middle, and ring fingers, the only ones not broken.

The villainess immediately yelled out as her feet lifted off the floor as Ochako quickly ripped the buckle open on her left wrist, freeing it.

As she untied her ankle restraints, she arched her back, bent her knees, and kangaroo-kicked Miku's body up in the air right at the ceiling, silencing her yell with a loud slap.

"Maybe nobody heard that and I'm okay, but I be prepared in case they have." She thought as she got off the bed and planted her feet on the ground.

Her legs wobbled at first. She gripped the hospital bed for support and took a step to walk it off. By the time she reached the open door, she could walk somewhat normally, but it still hurt. Not to mention, her broken hand was still throbbing at her side.

Peeking out of the doorframe, she saw a perpendicular hallway that was empty on both ends, but each side lead to more splitting hallways. Rather than navigate her way through a secret evil building that was perhaps bigger than she could imagine, she retracted back into the room and went toward the window.

Ochako pulled back the curtains and lifted the window only to see metal bars standing between herself and a two story drop. Outside was a gated community that looked to be just outside of a suburbs. In the distance, she could make out the taller buildings of the bigger city. And yet, metal bars were screwed into the window, making escape from this end much more difficult.

"Guess I have to navigate this place after all." She thought to herself before looking up at the still unconscious villainess floating on the ceiling.

Deku, meanwhile had reached the sewer and had been keeping up with the UA International Sports Festival. Although his wife came before most things, he was also aware of the three children he once saved standing where he stood as a UA student, in front of the world.

But before the games even started, he heard a noise that broke the ambience of the distant city commotion, mixed with the faint sounds of the sewer.

His Danger Sense kicked in as a large broken piece of rusted pipe the size of a commuter car flew over his head as he ducked. It slammed into the concrete behind him with a loud THWANG!

"Well, well, Deku."

The One For All hero found himself face to face with a villain from the train the other day. Specifically, the one with the black tentacles.

"You must be Eclipse." He stated.

Eclipse nodded. "I hate to cut this conversation short, but you've come far enough, hero."

Deku smiled. "That must mean I'm close to your secret hideout."

Eclipse unleashed a volley of large tentacles as thick as tree trunks, swinging down from his black shirt.

The hero pulled himself out of the way using his Black Whip which gripped a nearby metal railing.

"I've studied your Black Whip for some time now. In fact it's helped me understand my own Quirk much better. And since you're not sneaking up on me this time, I'm prepared to face you properly." The villain glared as several more tentacles split from his clothing and wriggled around him.

Deku's smile turned into a smirk. "Whatever makes you happy. It's not going to last." Lightning sparked over his body as he flashed literally out of frame for Eclipse.

The hero reappeared behind him in a shadow that blocked the sun.

Despite Eclipse's quick and desperate attempt to parry the incoming high-powered attack unloading every tentacle he could until his body was stripped nude, Deku's boot passed through the tentacles like butter and broke his jaw on impact.

The foe fell to the earth defeated with teeth missing and his jawline crooked.

Deku stood tall before charging out the direction he heard Eclipse came from. Playtime was over. No matter what they threw at him, he was determined to save Ochako. Whatever it took.

Chapter Text

Deku spotted what appeared to be a large mansion poking out of a hill, the back half of it, or however more it had, was hidden underground. What kind of rich lunatic would build his home so close to the sewer?

The kind he was after.

Wasting no time at all, he flashed up to the front doors and kicked them in.

And there they were.

"Hokori!" Deku shouted as he marched toward the villain and his two guards.

"Good afternoon, Deku. Welcome to my house." He raised his arms not in surrender, but in a sarcastic, welcoming gesture that symbolized the sheer size of the home.

"You've crossed the line, you monster. Where is Uravity?!" The hero snapped as he quickly approached the men. Akira silently ordered them to stand down.

"Being held at gunpoint, in a way." He answered. "She's my prisoner. You cannot just steal her back. She must be bargained for."

"Oh, is that right?" Deku stopped before Akira's face. "And why should I give you even ten seconds to negotiate anything?"

"Because if you move from where you're standing, my wife will shoot her dead." He stated, coldly.

Deku hesitated. "Why did you take her?"

Akira smiled. He knew he found Deku's weakness. "How long have you two been married for? I promise it's relevant."

Izuku glanced at the walls and saw photos of Akira with his family. He sighed. "Almost two years."

"And you've talked about having children, yes?"

Deku flared his nostrils. "Yes. But we haven't planned on that yet."

"I understand. You're both still fresh in your careers. You're busier than ever! Completely justified. However." The villain turned around to face the fireplace on the other side of a grand living room not far from the front doors.

"We noticed on Uravity's medical history that she hadn't refilled her prescription for birth control for about eight weeks now."

The green-haired young hero's heart sank. They knew of their personal medical history? Who gave them access? And if that's true, then Ochako didn't tell him. No, she would never. She would discuss it with him before stopping.

"You're lying." Deku frowned.

"The Purity Alliance is more popular than you understand." Akira smirked. "We've had our hand in conspiracies even Re-Destro and the Meta Liberation Army would only dream of. Heroes and celebrities? They can be bought. What about doctors, politicians, lawmakers, historians, educators, bank-tellers? We've bred them for generations."

Deku was about to protest when Akira interrupted for more. "We follow all the heroes from their social media influences to their bank records. And why wouldn't we follow the world's greatest hero and his powerful wife? Your children would be unstoppable. And even if the rumors are true your Quirk can't be passed on, your wife has a fire in her that I fell in love with since she challenged Dyna-Might at your UA Sports Festival all those years ago. I told my father I wanted her."

Black Whip wrapped around his neck and tightened, but he slipped through it, decapitating himself only for his head to slide back into place. Deku watched as dust particles sealed up anything that could have been a deadly wound to anyone else.

"And now, she's mine. But that's not all." He laughed. "We've got eyes on UA once again. With power like that, our children would be gods."

Eri.

Deku activated One For All and tackled the villain. But Akira disintegrated under his grip and reformed slowly to the side.

Before he could fully regenerate however, Deku used his Air Force gauntlets to blast the growing tower of dust apart.

The two henchmen, the villains from the train, each rushed the hero and reached for his arms, but Danger Sense kicked him out of their way as he spun around in the air, thwipping them both with Black Whip. The tentacles pulled them in closer where Deku roundhouse kicked them both in the head.

Akira regenerated during this time, laying on the ground and holding his radio. "Miku! Kill the hero!"

"She's gone!" Miku replied through the radio static.

His face fell stiff with shock. "...What?!"

"She knocked me unconscious and ran away! She couldn't have gone far..."

Deku's iron sole pressed down on Akira's chest.

"Sounds to me like you lost something." He smiled.

Akira looked up at the hero from the corner of his eye and furrowed his brow. "You heroes never make it easy..."

"You underestimated the strongest female hero in all of Japan. It was never going to be easy for you." Deku explained as Black Whip emerged from his wrist and wrapped around Akira's body.

He turned to dust once again but began spinning the particles all around the room.

First, it became hard to see and hear outside of the blowing dust that circled Deku. Then it became hard to breathe. He threw on his mask and fired Air Force from his wrists but it did little to stop the dust storm.

"You cannot defeat what you cannot touch! I will enter your lungs and rip you open from the inside!" Akira's voice called from within the clouds of dust.

Deku roared out and stomped his boot on the floor, generating a gust of wind that blew in all directions from the resulting crater.

Akira was heard screaming as his dust went away.

Immediately, the two henchmen recovered and charged him as his vision was cleared.

Stone landed a punch against Deku's mask, breaking it off his face in a single blow. While Jersey grabbed his shoulders and began flying up into the high ceiling.

Stone opened the broken front doors to let Jersey carry the hero outside high into the air.

Deku activated Black Whip and let the tendrils swing around wildly in the air, cutting and smacking the monstrous villain holding him.

"Agh! AUGH!" He roared as his claws opened up and Deku was dropped to the ground far below.

As he landed, he activated Float just a meter away from a hard landing. Only for Stone to come at him again with another punch to the chest.

Akira reformed his body and grunted as he felt his Quirk compress his body. The dust particles tightened up together like sediment forming rock and he charged the One For All user, until he felt a pressure on his back and his legs lifted him off the earth.

"Wha- WHAT?!" He cried out as his body floated up. He jerked his head back to see Uravity still in her hospital gown, proud of the fact that she did that to him.

She dashed away and tapped Stone, swinging around and kicking him away to float helplessly in the air.

"Hi, honey." She smiled.

Deku dropped down and ran to give her a big hug. The kind that lifts the girl off her feet and spins her around, followed by an embrace of the lips. But before they could get that far, he stopped them and jerked their bodies out of the way as Jersey came flying past.

"This isn't over, heroes! We're everywhere! Even now we're achieving our goals while you prolong the inevitable!" He called to them as he circled back ready to fight.

"I knew you'd come for me." Uravity said to him as she posed for combat.

"I knew you'd escape. I just thought you might need a good distraction." Deku smirked.

"As soon as we're out of this, we need to get to UA." She told him.

"UA? What's at UA?"

"The Purity Alliance."

Chapter Text

Kota awoke suddenly in the hospital wing. He sat upright quickly and looked around.

"Hey." Eri addressed him with a calm voice as she placed her hand on his leg. She sat in a chair at his side. But on her other side, Katsuma was sitting in his own bed.

"Did I win?" Kota asked with a smirk.

Eri frowned. She didn't feel like talking about what she saw. It may have started out as a competition but they both knocked each other completely unconscious. It was brutal to see as their friend. She was beginning to get tired of being the one to hold this trio together.

"Of all the reckless, self-destructive and destructive behavior I've seen in my years at this school!" Recovery Girl shouted as she marched into the room and swatted all three teens on their foreheads with a newspaper. "If you're all trying to be just like Deku then congratulations, you're off to a great start! You might just one-up him in terms of trying to kill another student! There's only so many beds in this hospital. You're lucky that line outside my office is only minor scraps and bruises."

They all lowered their heads in shame. "M-Maybe we did go too hard..." Katsuma admitted.

Kota scoffed. "Do you expect villains to go easy on us?"

"Guys." Eri stopped them both. "Not now."

"The scores are in!" Present Mic announced to the crowds on the television screen.

Eri, Katsuma, and Kota turned their attention as the scoreboard flashed in front of their eyes.

"It was insane! Izumi and Shimano were neck and neck but check out this instant replay!" The loud teacher insisted as the broadcast cut to the camera footage. It made Katsuma feel sick tackling Kota so hard. According to Recovery Girl, he received serious whiplash. Any harder and his neck would have been broken. He felt bad as he noticed his foot was on the platform the entire time. Only a few seconds longer than his classmate.

Kota remained silent as the teachers declared Katsuma the winner of the round.

Eri turned her head and gave him a reassuring smile. "Deku didn't win his first Sports Festiva-"

"We shouldn't try to be exactly like him! I never knew him as a failure! I met him after his festival! He was a warrior that never gave up no matter how impossible the challenge before him!" Kota snapped.

This drove Katsuma to turn around and stand up. "You know, why must you always make it some big honor thing? Like you don't have a purpose if you can't impress your hero?"

"Oh yeah?" Kota jumped to his feet and got in the curly-haired boy's face. "What about you trying to copy everything he did?! Even your face looks like his! I will be the first to admit that Deku is not a perfect individual."

"How about you stop talking about him since you don't know the first thing about the kind of hero he is!" Katsuma barked.

"You need to stop treating this like a fan club!" Kota barked back, shoving the teen away.

Eri pried herself between the boys and stared at each of them in the face. She didn't say a word. She couldn't. All she could communicate was the disappointment in her eyes as they welled up with tears.

"H-How dare you..." She proclaimed in her soft, broken voice.

Kota gruffed and walked out into the office waiting room. "Young man. You have not been excused yet!" Recovery Girl called as he passed her and the line of injured students by.

He stormed out of the door and into the hallway. Other than the nurse's office, the school appeared empty. Everyone was still at the Sports Festival. Now it was on break before the final showdown. Cheerleaders and other student performers were out on the field giving the cameras and audience different shows. But he didn't care. He didn't care about it anymore. All he wanted was to keep stomping away.

But as he was about to walk out of the school doors, he heard crying in a nearby classroom. His heroic instincts kicked in, with a roll of his eyes, and he turned to the source. Peeking his head inside, he saw Satsuki Asui sitting against the far wall with her arms around her knees. She was back in her school uniform, although it was messier than her usually more conservative look. Instead of her tie being done professionally, it was loose on her collar. Her shirt and skirt were wrinkled, one of her socks was white, and her shoelaces were untied.

Satsuki seemed to stop crying and look at him the same time he got a closer look at her. She bowed her head to welcome him to her private moment of humility.

"You look like a mess..." Kota bluntly stated. "You okay?"

"Y-Yeah I just..."

She didn't need to finish. Kota suspected she was acting this way because of her embarrassing defeat. Not to mention she was practically exposed in front of millions of viewers, even if she had the scoreboard to shield her. "I-I saw your match... I'm sorry..."

Kota shook his head. "Don't be. It happens to everyone at least once."

She wiped her cheeks with her sleeve. "My sister called me."

Kota felt like, if she was okay, she wouldn't need him here and he didn't need to stay longer than necessary. But he stayed to listen.

"Froppy. She called me and said she was proud of me. But I just... felt like... I let her down." Satsuki sniffed.

Kota sighed. "I feel like I let down my hero today too."

"I'm sure you did..." She said. Her froggy blunt side coming through. "But not for the reason you might think."

Kota groaned and slid down the wall to sit beside her. "And what reason would that be?"

"You fought your friend. Not as a rival. More like... you both were really trying to hurt each other." Satsuki explained.

He rolled his eyes. "He's not my friend. He's been an annoying dweeb since he came here. And Eri's on his side now too."

"...That's not true." She frowned. "Eri is a great friend. She sees the faults in both of you."

To change the subject, Kota reached over and tied her shoelaces for her and habitually tapped the side of her shoe with a smile. "I'd hate to see you trip."

He stood back up. "We should probably get back to our seats. It's not over yet."

Satsuki gave him a small smile. Her cheeks lit up pink for a moment. "Th-Thanks, Izumi."

"Don't mention it." He smiled back.

As they walked out of the classroom together, someone else walked into the school and passed them. He looked like a student, wearing a UA sport uniform. But he didn't look too familiar. He did however have a very irritated look on his face as he stormed down the hall. Could have just been upset that he lost too.

But his pace was shifting repeatedly. As if he wasn't too recognizing of his surroundings. It's not like they could have gotten lost this late in the semester. Even most first years found their way around quickly. He was looking for something, or someone.

Despite Satsuki's state, she took one concerned look at Kota before silently following after the strange student.

"Asui." Kota reached out and followed after her.

Chapter Text

Kota and Satsuki walked in silence far behind the mysterious student as he marched down the hall. They noticed he turned his head several times searching for something, a specific room perhaps?

It could just be a normal student looking for the nurse's office. Probably in the general course or business course. But his expression was off. And he seemed disoriented, but not visibly injured.

The two hero students each had these thoughts run in their heads as they followed, occasionally looking at one another for assurance to press on, that their suspicions were correct. That this might not be a student at all. And only students were allowed in the halls at this time for the bathroom or the nurse's office.

Kota wasn't even quite sure they should keep hiding from him. Any turn of his head could catch either in his peripheral, and that would look suspicious, being followed quietly by two kids.

Just then, Satsuki released her large tongue from her mouth and grabbed Kota's body, pulling him off his feet and into an open custodial closet just as the targeted "student" turned around. He must be getting wary. He may be getting the feeling that he is being watched. When he saw no one, he turned and resumed on his path, quickening his pace.

Kota found himself lying on top of his classmate with his face briefly caught in the valley of her shirt. He quickly jumped up, moving his head around to hide his blush. "Thanks!" He whispered as he got to his feet, without helping her up too. He was a little busy being embarrassed by the situation. Satsuki didn't make it easier too. Her usually half-lidded frog-like eyes were wide open and her mouth was pursed as her cheeks turned pink.

Once they were on their feet again, ignoring what just happened, Satsuki realized that she had grabbed him with her tongue. Unlike her sister, her tongue had... toxin.

"Izumi!" She whispered. "Are you feeling okay?"

Kota didn't know what she was talking about, as he had forgotten about her tongue hitting Eri earlier, and was focused on the mystery student. He also thought she could be referencing his fall onto her body back there and wanted nothing to do with that conversation. "Uh... Fine. Just focused."

Satsuki had instinctively wrapped her tongue around his torso, which was covered by his sports jersey. But the underside of his arms could've been hit. The less contact made, the longer he has until it hits.

"I-If I hit your skin with my tongue you could black out." She whispered to him as they walked.

"Oh... I should be fine. You got my arm a little but, I have a feeling we're headed for Recovery Girl's anyway." He replied at the same low volume.

"What makes you think that? That's where other students are. And a member of the faculty." Satsuki questioned with a tilt of her head.

"Could just be hurt from the festival. If he's... not a student, I don't know what else he would want in here. It's just a school." Kota explained.

Satsuki nodded. Again they were on the same page and pressed on.

But when the student turned a corner and they followed, he was gone.

The students looked at each other. "Uh oh..."

Their mystery student leapt down from the ceiling behind them. "Why are you following me?" He asked them with a heavy glare.

Kota was about to raise his arms when Satsuki stepped between them. "We're looking for the nurse's office! We're still getting used to these winding halls." She said with a cheery voice that did not match her personality at all. "Sorry to spook you like that! My Quirk kinda makes me look a little silly sometimes."

The student kept his glare as he looked from her to Kota. "And your boyfriend?"

"Whoa! I am not her boyfriend!" Kota protested.

With their eyes on him, he gulped. "I-I'm just going to check up on some friends there. A-And she's just my friend too." He needed to work on his lying, even if it was technically true.

"Well." The student folded his arms. "I thought the nurse's office was this way."

"Yeah, Mrs. Yashimoto, right?" Satsuki asked.

The student looked at her like she just swallowed a basketball. "No... The nurse here is the infirmary hero, Recovery Girl."

Kota and Satsuki glanced at each other for a moment. It seems if this student knows more about the school than they do playing dumb, he just might be legitimate.

"Did you get hurt in the festival?" Kota asked, changing the subject.

"No, just been getting this headache today. I couldn't even get far in the festival before I lost." He explained. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to the nurse's office for my perscription."

Satsuki frowned at Kota as they watched him walk away.

"Guess he's just a hurt student." He shrugged.

"Maybe... But he said he got a headache today. And yet he's picking up a prescription from Recovery Girl." She thought aloud.

"At this point, we're just spying on another student for no reason." Kota stated. "We should go back."

"Does Recovery Girl give prescriptions to students for headaches?" Satsuki turned to him.

Kota sighed. "Maybe? I know if people have prescriptions for headaches they'd probably already have it."

"He said he got it today and is picking up a prescription from her...today." Satsuki spoke it out. "It's a student that doesn't know his way around the school and I've never seen him before. And what kind of Quirk was that? Sticking to the ceiling?"

Kota rolled his eyes. "Are you okay? I've never heard you talk this much."

"Do you remember our encounter with those villains on the train?" She asked.

He groaned. "Yes. Do you think this guy's connected to them?"

"They were from the Purity Alliance. It's rumored that they have people in many organizations, like how the Meta Liberation Army functioned." Satsuki explained.

"I think it's too big of a stretch to assume this student is connected to them just because of a headache." Kota told her.

"I agree. But if this stops something bad from happening, then maybe I'll be able to...redeem myself." She tapped her large fingers together.

Kota frowned. "And if it's nothing?"

"...Then nothing is lost but time." Satsuki sighed. She didn't wait for him to respond. She went ahead to continue following.

Kota watched her walk down the hall. His legs moved, before his mind could finish his thoughts.

They reached the corridor with the nurse's office and watched the student walk inside past the line. In synchronization, they followed after.

"Hey! Get in line!" One student called to them.

"Yeah! Wait your turn!" Another yelled.

Just to be sure Satsuki's worries weren't justified, he grabbed her hand and pulled them both past the mystery student and into the room with a few beds.

Katsuma and Eri were both standing, about ready to leave, in fact.

"Hey! We've you guys been?" Eri asked.

"You two can't be in here!" Recovery Girl snapped at them from across the room after she kissed another bed-ridden student on the forehead. "I already excused you!"

"Just..." Kota tensed up. "It's nothing."

"Actually."

Everyone turned to the mystery student now standing in the doorway. "It's something." He smiled and stared at Eri.

Chapter Text

Deku stood back to back with his wife, Uravity, surrounded by the Purity Alliance.

"We can't stay here long. We have to warn UA." Uravity whispered.

"What makes you say that?" Deku turned his head and asked.

"Because, we've been one step ahead of you the entire time." Akira stated. He outstretched his hands and smiled. "We are much bigger, and deeper, than you could possibly imagine. We have hands in UA, Shiketsu, the Hero Commission Agency, the police, the heroes, the government. We have recruitment programs everywhere."

Deku frowned. "We've fought bigger."

"Way bigger." Uravity smirked.

"You know, you both can join us. Your family will be safe." Akira gestured to Uravity's stomach. "Really. You can live, and be heroes, in peace. Raise your children in utopia."

The couple took a quick look at each other.

"And what will you do to those that say no?" Deku asked. "What about Uravity? You didn't invite her. You kidnapped her!"

Uravity glared silently.

Akira looked at them both with a change of aura. He didn't seem like a threat. But being professional heroes, they both knew better.

"It's not too late to choose. Fight for a dying society that can't keep up with each generation's powers, or join us in the glorious tomorrow of a superhuman society. We're literally one more generation away from godhood." The man monologued.

"Society has already gone through many revisions. It's far from perfect but what you've shown us is insanity. Kidnapping women and forcing them to bear your children? If what you say is true, the next generation will come regardless of who bears who. It's you who wants control!" Deku argued.

Akira shook his head. "Any other way will only bring chaos."

"You're wrong!" Uravity stamped her foot on the ground.

Deku nodded in agreement. "We're the last heroes you'll convince. Especially after what you did..." Green lightning sparked around his body. "Which reminds me."

Akira lowered his head. "I tried to reason with you, but you leave me no choice. You shall both be left in the dust, and your child shall burn."

Simultaneously, both heroes charged him.

Deku's fist went straight for his face, only for Akira to dissipate into dust, letting it pass through. With incredible reflexes, he turned around and grabbed the hero's hood, whipping his body to the ground. But he didn't account for Uravity's second attack as her heel collided with his jaw.

He stumbled back but regained control, staring daggers at her.

Jersey flew in to the fight with his sharp teeth ready to clamp down on her, but Uravity threw herself backward, dodging his assault as he swooped back up into the air to circle around.

In this moment, Deku recovered and unsheathed Black Whip ferociously on Akira. The villain felt the tentacles rip through his body, tearing him apart as his limbs and other parts crumbled to dust off of his center mass.

Uravity jumped up as Jersey flew toward her. Her hand managed to grab his wing and then let go. The monstrous foe lost control of gravity and began flapping his wings effortlessly as he floated away.

"You fool!" Eclipse shouted to his comrade. He unleashed a barrage of his own black tendrils on the heroine. To test if they were a part of his body or not, she had to touch just one. But they were all moving around so fast. One whipped over her and she felt a stinging pain as a cut opened up on her exposed arm. She was still after all, only wearing the gown they put her in. No protection and certainly not as much coverage as she's comfortable with.

"Gunhead Martial Arts." She thought to herself as she flipped through the air dodging as many of the black tentacles as she could.

Deku and Akira continued to exchange blows. Whenever Deku managed to land a hit, Akira's body would blow apart and reform quickly. And his attacks on Deku weren't cushioned either. His fists enlarged and grew spikes. Occasionally he reshaped an arm into a long blade, only for Deku to dodge it and slice it off with his hand.

Black Whip emerged and thrashed wildly at the villains, breaking their concentrations. Eclipse's tentacles went into defensive mode trying to shield him, which gave Uravity an opening. Dropping to the ground, she darted through the chaos and slapped the villain across his cheek, leaving a big red handprint as he floated away.

"Two down, Deku!" She cheered.

"Not so fast!" Akira evaporated, blowing his particles her direction.

Uravity started to run but was caught by his hand as he reformed behind her, grabbing her dress. With his other hand, a large hardened blade fused from his fingers. "Surrender, hero..."

Deku halted himself. The villain's blade was against his wife's neck.

"Or she dies."

Uravity subtly shook her head. "No..."

Eclipse anchored himself behind them with his black tendrils.

Deku breathed heavily. One For All ceased within him as Black Whip was sucked back into his gauntlets and the lightning quit flashing around him. His green hair settled on his sweaty forehead.

He knew his wife could get out of most of these situations. It was so typical of their enemies to assume she was so easy to get the upper hand with. But she was slower considering she was pregnant. By the way, he couldn't let that distract him at the moment either. Would using her Quirk on a villain like Akira even work? He could just reform his body mass to cover any particles she hit with her power and regain gravity.

"Sorry, Ochako..." He thought so insecurely. "I can't think of any way for you to save yourself... It's gonna have to be me."

They had been together for many years. Uravity almost knew his thought process by heart. Even after he trained himself to "mutter" in his mind rather than out loud. She nodded to him in assurance.

Deku shut his eyes briefly. Then when they opened, they glowed green. Before the lightning could spark up around him, he launched himself toward the villain with speed so great, they almost couldn't see him. But one second he was there and the next, both he and Akira were gone. The former exploded all over the scene.

Uravity had her eyes shut and immediately began to spit and blow the dust off of her body.

Eclipse and Stone stood in shock at what happened. "H-He increased his speed?! How fast did he go?!" Eclipse shouted.

The brunette hero took the opportunity to tap the rock villain's arm, grapple him like a baseball bat, and swing his body toward the tentacle-cloth villain, while releasing. The two villains smacked into each other and landed hard on the ground.

Uravity dusted off the remainder of her dress, gave the fallen an audible "hmph!", and raised her arms awaiting her husband's saving embrace.

Deku reappeared from the sky and picked her up with Black Whip. Once she was holding on to his back, with arms wrapped around his neck, he activated Fa Jin and blasted away.

Akira slowly regathered his body and watched the heroes disappear into the clouds. "This isn't over... Call my son. Tell him to evacuate UA at once."

He looked over at his henchmen and saw they were still too discombobulated to be of use. He rolled his eyes and grabbed Stone's phone. "Idiots!"

Chapter Text

Katsuma, Kota, Eri, and Satsuki stared down the boy in the doorway, who had a very eery smile on his face.

"It's you..." He said as he kept his gaze on Eri in particular. "Father told me I could have anyone... And I want you."

"What on earth are you talking about?" Kota asked as he stepped in between them.

Katsuma gulped. "Guys..."

The boy snickered.

"He's one of them."

With great speed, the boy grabbed Eri, wrapping his arms around her stomach, and jumped up on to the ceiling. His feet planted firmly on the surface upside down as if gravity was reversed. She thrashed in his grasp but he was very strong and felt a sting in her neck as he plunged a needle into her skin. Almost instantly, she fell asleep.

"ERI!" Katsuma shouted. He leapt up to grab her but the boy carried her away through the open door, still running on the ceiling with his own inverted gravity.

Kota blasted the two with water but it did nothing here. "Come on!" Katsuma tapped his shoulder as he ran past.

The two boys and Satsuki chased the kidnapper out of the office.

"We need to get up there!" Katsuma blurted.

"Give me a boost!" Satsuki ordered as she hopped in the air over their heads. Katsuma activated his Quirk, increasing the strength in his arms. As she landed over him, he caught her then catapulted her even higher into the ceiling.

The froggy girl grabbed the ceiling and was able to stick. Although it wasn't something she was used to practicing, unlike her older pro-hero sister. The villainous boy snickered as he ran past. "Good luck keeping up, losers!"

Satsuki frowned and darted her tongue out of her lips. The tip struck his shirt, but he shoved it away and kept going. She began crawling after him.

"We need to get the teachers!" Katsuma declared.

"We need to get the school on lockdown." Kota added.

Just then the sirens of the school went off. Several windows around them sealed automatically. And at the end of the hall, a large metal door slammed shut.

The mysterious kidnapping teenager stopped running and lowered his head. "Surrender! You've lost!" Katsuma shouted as he pointed a finger up.

"Give us back our friend!" Kota barked.

The boy suddenly flipped over, dropping from the ceiling, and landed on his foot and knee, still holding Eri's body bridal style.

"I. Never. Lose." He hissed under his breath. As he turned to face the teen heroes, he tapped a button on his shirt.

"Drop her." Satsuki ordered as she landed from the ceiling.

He smiled then set Eri down beside him. Then he turned his attention back to them. "You cannot stop this."

"Are you sure about that? You're outnumbered." Kota glared. "And the teachers are coming."

"I think they'll be too busy to do that." He smiled.

Meanwhile, Mr. Serizawa and Mr. Aizawa were talking as the Sports Festival had taken a quick break. "What's taking them so long? They can talk after this is over." The latter frowned, checking his cell phone.

"Wow, Aizawa. I never thought I'd see the day where you check your phone in public over anybody." Serizawa smirked.

"It's not just Aizawa that concerns me. The final match needs to begin and it needs Shimano." He said with a vicious side-eye. "I'm going to call Recovery Girl and tell her to excuse them. They've had more than enough recovery time. Her Quirk should've healed them already."

Serizawa shook his head. "You may have a point there. My students are strong. But their loyalty to each other might hinder them."

Little did they know, someone was watching them from the crowd. In the lower stands, almost touching the stadium ground floor, a woman sat watching the teachers, waiting for something. Her wristwatch beeped, giving the signal.

At that moment, she stood up in her seat and activated her Quirk. Her body began to grow, immediately shoving the people beside her.

"Hey, lady! Do you mind not activating your Quirk here?!" Someone shouted.

"Hey stop it!" Someone else cried out as they jumped from their seat to avoid her.

She looked down at them as she was almost fifteen feet tall, and smiled. With a wave of her hand, everyone she swiped at instantly absorbed into her flesh. Anyone making contact with her skin was sucked into it. And as she absorbed people in the crowd, she grew bigger.

Now people started to panic. Many screamed and ran.

Aizawa tried to stare her down but he kept getting bumped by a passerby trying to escape the stadium. "Out of the way!" He shouted as he moved through the crowd to get a better view.

Serizawa was also trying to push through.

"AHAHAHA!" She roared with laughter as she continued to swipe at the audience, taking in more and more and growing taller and bigger. Just then, she stopped. The next man she touched didn't get absorbed. "Huh?!" She boomed, but then quickly remembered Aizawa. "Eraserhead!" She turned toward the hero now with a good view of her, his one good eye glowing red as his hair stood on end.

"Whoever you are, you will release those civilians from your biomass at once!" He called.

"Do it, ma'am! You're surrounded." Serizawa yelled out from his location.

People kept piling out of the stadium around them, knowing what was about to happen.

The other teachers appeared, battle-ready.

At some point, someone had activated the alarm system as this fiasco began. The cameras ceased to roll. UA was wise to use their own cameras, broadcasting them out to other stations and limiting outside news sources and cameras. No one outside of UA knew what was happening. But not for long, as hundreds of citizens were still running out.

Principal Nezu frowned, watching this take place from the VIP booth up above the stands. "A villain attack at the Sports Festival? How could we have let this happen?"

With him were a few different officials from other schools in the country, as well as international. Among them were their personal bodyguards. All trusted and high class people with almost nothing to hide. Yet one of the unnamed bodyguards put the sharp edge of a blade against the principal's small throat in the small crowd.

"And here I thought you were a smart one, rodent." He whispered.

"A smart one surrounds himself with friends." Nezu said softly back, not moving a muscle, compliantly for the time being. "Who are you supposed to be protecting?"

"Usually the one with the knife asks the questions." The bodyguard sneered. From where the assassin caught him, Nezu could not see his face without moving, which could be fatal.

"I will tell you, I'm with the lady." He explained, gesturing lightly to the female villain attacking the stands below. "And there are many more of us."

"I suppose you want me to ask you what you want?" Nezu asked.

"Always asking questions, eh? Well do the math, principal. A handful of your students encountered villains the other day and got away with it because Deku was there to save them. Well let me ask you: what would be the result if that happened again...without him?" The bodyguard smirked.

Nezu's black eyes grew big. "...Aizawa."

Chapter Text

"I cannot let my family fall to these self-righteous heroes!" Jersey thought as he drifted aimlessly through the sky, still stuck under Uravity's Quirk. "She took my gravity. But she did not take my flight!" Stretching his wings, he pushed his body through the air and began to turn around. "My wings shall take me to victory even unto death!"

As Deku flew propelled himself and his companion through the clouds, he would repeatedly glance in the corner of his eye, turning his head slightly just to make sure she was still with him. Even though he could feel her arms hold tightly around him, he was still on edge. She was kidnapped from him and gone for several days. He didn't sleep. He barely ate. Ochako was everything he could think about. It made him reflect on the choices he made during their courtship years ago.

How they first started dating, following the events of their first year at UA, after the war against the League of Villains. They both saw each other almost die. And they made a promise, each of them, but mostly on him, to never take the full load. Up until that conversation with Ochako, Deku had always felt like he alone could do it and needed to. But when she and his other friends stepped in to save him, to rescue him from himself, he listened more. To this day however, he still struggles with overworking himself. Not out of any false responsibilities he felt he couldn't share. He was past that phase. It was now more out of habit.

No one else could do what he could do to his level. Of course he learned to let others lead the way in rescue and even combat. But during hard times of stress, his trust in others dwindled, even in Ochako. Deku's fears would get the best of him and he thought that if he could not rescue Ochako in time...

He never dwelt on those dark thoughts. They put him in a mindset that didn't fit his character.

Thankfully, she was here now to steer his mind, and his body. "Down there!" She called to him through the roaring sound of wind passing their heads.

He glanced down thousands of feet beneath them to where UA and the stadium stood. Even from that high, Danger Sense suddenly kicked on, making him wince. The hero stopped, keeping Float active as Ochako remained on his back.

"What is it?" She asked.

"We were followed." He declared.

Sure enough, out of the closest white cloud beside them, the monstrous devil Quirked villain emerged. Roaring and flapping his wings at them. He flew about as graceful as if gravity were still afflicting him as he closed in. He lowered his horned head, aiming the tips toward Deku's chest.

Ochako regained her protective Uravity energy and scrambled up her husband's back, to then launch off of his shoulders toward the monster. As she fell, her hands gripped his horns in perfect timing, dragging his body down with her.

Deku quickly realized they were falling. "URAVITY!" He called as he blasted air from his gauntlets and flew down after.

Jersey roared in frustration as her weight carried him down. The sound of screaming wind picked up in their ears as the ground quickly grew closer and closer. He thrashed his claws in her direction as she yanked herself away, still holding on to his horns. He snapped his sharp teeth but couldn't reach her from that angle above his jaws. One strike successfully landed, slashing her leg and cutting the edge of her gown. Blood flew up from the wound as she screamed out. Tears followed the blood upwards as her grip weakened.

Deku appeared behind them. The ground only a few hundred feet away now. He grabbed Uravity by wrapping his arms around her and linking before lifting off. She tapped her fingers together, giving Jersey his gravity back. But as he could feel it return to his body and flapped his wings, he struck the earth, creating a small crater there.

The heroes safely landed, Float deactivating. As they watched the crash. They took one brief moment of solemn silence before Deku turned to his wife. "I need to get you to the hospital. This cut doesn't look good."

"N-No!" She protested. "You need to warn UA about the attack."

Before he could protest, they heard a loud explosion coming from the UA stadium ahead.

"No..." They both gasped.

"I'll go to Recovery Girl. You go help the school!" Uravity ordered.

Deku took another look at her leg. "Please let me get you there first..."

"Izuku!" She snapped at him. "Your priority now is to help the people in immediate danger. I will get the help I need. I can make it."

"I lost you before... I can't-"

"Honey, I've been cut worse." She reminded him. She forced an assuring smile before limping off toward the campus. "Go, Deku, go!" She called back.

As One For All powered up within him, he remained concerned for her as he watched her rush off. "I'll find you after this!" He promised before blasting off. The leaves on the trees between himself and the stadium blew in that direction as lightning flashed in his place.

Meanwhile, Aizawa, Serizawa, and Snipe had formed a triangle around the towering Absorbing villainess, keeping their distance. She eyed them all and laughed. "None of you can touch me. Unless you wanna join in my flesh and make me bigger."

"Good luck getting out of my sight with your size." Aizawa said as his hair stood on end.

Snipe aimed his guns up at her eyes. "You move, I put a bullet in each of your pupils."

Out of the three in her way, Snipe was definitely the one to watch out for, having a long ranged ability. Easerhead was keeping her from absorbing any of them. And Serizawa...well he wouldn't be able to take her at this size.

"Don't try anything!" Aizawa ordered her.

"Too late!" Serizawa shouted as she threw her fist into the stands, Aizawa dodged the attack, barely taking his eye off of her for a split second to watch his landing.

Once he landed, his eye went right back to her, unblinking. But in that instant, she swung her leg around at Snipe and Serizawa. The latter of the two was able to leap over the incoming tree-trunk sized calf, but not the former. Snipe braced for impact as her leg not only struck him, but carried him off his feet. Serizawa winced as Snipe's body helplessly melted into her skin. She laughed and stood back up, only a few feet taller than before. "I just have to keep playing with you, Eraserhead, while you send me more flesh to take."

Aizawa cursed. "I'm getting too old for this..."

"Just try and catch me!" Serizawa quipped at the villainess. "We'll know all your secrets with you mouthing off like that before you can get any bigger!"

"This ends now, Nezu. Order them to stand down or I'll slice your throat." The henchman hissed into the principal's large rodent ear.

Nezu looked at him through his peripheral. "Then it looks like you'll have to kill me." Without warning, the small school master twisted the villain's wrist holding the knife and leapt on top of his head. His tail wrapped tightly around the man's neck and squeezed. He swung the knife around the room as everyone else started to panic. With the distraction, Nezu tapped a button on his wristwatch and it transformed, expanding over his arm into a small mounted cannon. He aimed it down on the man's cranium and fired. He dropped without a sound.

"What just happened, Nezu?! Did you just kill that man?!" A female ambassador from the government shouted from the group.

"Stun gun. Courtesy of Ingenium Tech." He said with a proud smile, tapping the button again and letting it shrink back down. "And I hope nobody left this room because he was not alone."

Chapter Text

Katsuma, Kota, and Satsuki cornered the mystery boy still carrying Eri on his back. "It doesn't matter if the heroes come or not, there are more of us here now." Kota told him. "Who are you?"

The boy's smirk appeared to drop. He gave off the feeling akin to a trapped wild animal. His desperation grew in his face as sweat formed. "M-My father is coming for me!"

Katsuma frowned. "Listen, guy. You're done. Give us back our friend and we won't hurt you."

Satsuki waited for a clear shot, then fired her tongue at the villain. He turned around, using Eri's already unconscious body as a shield as Satsuki's tongue slapped her face. Right after, he activated his Quirk again and started running the other direction, on the ceiling.

"COME ON!" Kota roared and blasted water from his fingertips, pushing himself into the air after the boy. In his rage, he aimed his hands and blasted enough water to knock the boy off of his feet. He slipped off of the ceiling and landed on the ground with Eri.

As the trio approached, he released their friend and swung his legs at Kota's ankle, knocking him back as he leapt up and rushed past Katsuma and Satsuki. The frog-like girl propelled her tongue again but the boy kicked it away, right into Katsuma's gut.

"AH!" He gasped. His Quirk fired up, taking energy to absorb her toxins without becoming paralyzed but ironically it kept him busy while the boy continued to run off.

Kota recovered and blasted past his dazed friends, not caring about the gallons of water he spilled all through the halls. The villain growled and grabbed the spike-haired student. They tackled to the floor, only to then fall together upwards hitting the ceiling. The impact knocked Kota's breath out of his lungs while the villainous boy, being used to the effects of his Quirk, landed punch after punch to his face.

Katsuma's cellular regeneration ran its course with Satsuki's poison. "Sat...suki!" He groaned, still clutching his stomach. "Check Eri!" Not even bothering to look back and make sure she listened, he felt his Quirk surge through his veins. Orange lightning sparked around him as he leapt up and pulled the villain off of his friend. He held on to the boy's sides from the ceiling as the boy felt gravity pulling on him from both ends. He roared again and shook around.

With one hand balled into a fist, Katsuma struck his back. Surprisingly, the force was strong enough to thrust the boy forward, smacking his head into the ceiling tile. All three of their bodies collapsed to the floor.

Katsuma landed on his ankle, feeling something bend in a way it was not meant to, and it made him yell out in pain. Kota gasped for air as his face was beaten red and swollen like a professional boxer. Blood dripped from the corner of his lip.

Finding Eri to be unscathed for the most part, Satsuki ran to her male classmates and jabbed the villain's arm with her tongue.

"NOOOooo-" He called out as his body finally went limp.

However at this point, Satsuki's mouth was starting to go numb from overusing her toxins several times like that. She grimaced as she tried to pull his arms behind his back.

"Szchhimano, Izschumi, are you twoe okae?" She asked with her partially numb tongue.

"Fine..." Katsuma sighed as he gripped his leg. "Just healing..." He reached over and, planting his right hand on Kota's head, began to administer his regenerative abilities to his rival.

"Good thing it was just one punk." Kota grunted. He breathed as he felt Katsuma's Quirk activate his cells on his leg. The pain went away as he could now move his ankle normally again.

"Want some healing, Asui?" Katsuma asked the froggy classmate.

"Jusssscht coll meh Sasski. And nnnno, I' okeh." She answered clumsily, with her large thumb up to reassure him.

As Kota now approached the unconscious young villain, he noticed something on the kid's ankle: a small machine that beeped quietly with a flashing red light. Most likely a tracker.

"That's weird..." He observed aloud.

"What?" Katsuma asked, turning his head as he applied his power to Eri. Satsuki knelt beside her.

"Why would they give him a tracker if they knew where he was going to be?" Kota asked.

"A tracker?!" Katsuma gasped.

Just then, the doors to the elevator burst open. Glass and metal fragments landed all over the halls. Emerging from the open elevator shaft was a man riding a wave made entirely out of fire. It curled and slithered up and then around the teenagers as he stepped down from its flames and walked to them with a disappointed look. "Can you really blame us for putting a tracker on him? It's his first mission. We didn't want anyone to take him." He said with a shrug.

"Call me Flame Tamer." He introduced himself as he held out a hand for Kota to shake. He was rather handsome, with a strong jawline, a leather, most likely flame-proof jacket, and sunglasses over his combed hair. One thing these cultists had in common was the short, slicked back hair.

"Who are you?" Kota glared at him.

Satsuki held Eri's hand, although she was still out. Katsuma was still too busy administering to her to break away and face this new threat.

With a chuckle, he answered Kota. "I already told you who I am. And I guess breaking the UA elevator and telling you about the tracker wasn't enough. Heh. I thought you prestigious kids were smarter than that."

"My goal isn't to know your loyalties. It's to know you." Kota stated. "So the police know just who I beat."

The man's face did not change, aside from one of his trimmed eyebrows raising.

"Look, kid. My nephew was child's play. Literally. You don't got what it takes to beat me or my pet." On cue, the large slithering fire hissed and crackled as it circled them. "Feel that heat? Your bodies will go into fatigue and potential heatstroke even if the flames themselves don't get to you."

Kota felt it alright. The water in the air was evaporating, exiting out the broken windows as smoke replaced it. Sweat started to form on his skin.

"Izuuumi..." Satsuki shook her head after he turned to look at her.

"What, like I'm supposed to let you and your kid get away after hurting my friends and damaging my school?!" He snapped. "Fat chance!"

The older man sighed. "No, you're wrong, kid. I'm not here to get away with him after hurting you. I'm here to get away with him and the girl after hurting you badly."

No more talking! Kota raised his hands out and blasted jets of water right into the man's face. He staggered back for a moment but then his long, giant worm of flame sent itself into the boy's jet stream. As water met fire, steam filled the room instantly. While he couldn't see it, the brown-haired boy felt the fire pushing through his stream slowly. The heat grew and grew. Now he felt like his hands were directly over a campfire, or holding a pot of water that was slowly beginning to boil.

"KOTA!" He heard from behind him, probably Eri awoken. But he could not stop now. He could not break away. Not just because there was no safe way to do so, but to prove he had what it took, even if the villain he faced so happened to have a Quirk in contrast with his own. It's what every hero plans for, and dreads. It's what Deku had to do. It's what his aunts had to do.

The villain sighed, seeing this breaking stalemate take too long. He split the flame from the other end into several more streams of fire that snaked around Kota from behind. More tendrils flew between the group of teens. As Katsuma and Satsuki tried to pull Eri back, one whipped across their arms, delivering a painful burn that instinctively forced each of them to release their grip.

They watched in horror as the villainous boy had come to and grabbed Eri yet again. She kicked and screamed as he brought her to the older villain, Flame Tamer.

"Sayonara." Tamer said sarcastically. With his hand raised, he clenched it into a fist and they looked on in horror at the flames now closing around Kota, torching him down to his skin.

"KOTAAA!" Eri cried out loudly.

"Shut up!" The boy shouted as his grip around her tightened.

"Hold on to her and let's go!" Flame Tamer ordered him as the flame pulled away and slithered down the elevator shaft. The villains walked on top of it and rode it out of sight with Eri stuck on the boy's back like a hunting trophy.

Katsuma's legs froze. He could not decide whether to run to his friend Kota, still suffering from the burns he just received, or Eri, who was being kidnapped before his eyes. Satsuki leapt forward, but missed them as they descended into the ground floor. All she could attempt to grab were the untouchable fires that slithered away. She turned around, deciding now that if she was to help anyone, it would be Kota.

"We have to get him to Recovery Girl!" She barked.

"Right!" Katsuma began to lift Kota's body, but even he was left so hot, it nearly burned the curly-haired boy. Still, he refused to let the pain stop him again. They started their run back to the infirmary when he felt himself give out.

Satsuki turned back to see Kota fall from Katsuma's arms, and Katsuma collapse.

Chapter Text

The giant woman laughed as she swung her arms back and forth trying to catch Mr. Serizawa and Mr. Aizawa as they ran up and down the bleachers of the stadium.

"Don't break your sight!" Serizawa reminded his partner.

"Why are you telling me that like it's something I would have forgotten?!" Aizawa yelled back as he ducked under her fingers.

Dodging another one of her swings, Serizawa rubbed his legs, feeling their strain on his Quirk the more he jumped and sprung away. "We gotta capture her somehow!"

"She's too big at the moment!" Aizawa called. "Jump down to the field! Get her off the stands."

The newer teacher sighed before nodding in agreement. "Alright. Let's go!" He thought to himself as he launched off over the ledge, catching the attention of the villainess again.

"RAHH!" She roared as she lunged after him, falling off the ledge and hitting her head on the grass below. Although to her, it was a short fall. Still, falling over the stadium ledge into a mouthful of grass was no picnic for even a giantess.

Aizawa leapt down using his scarf wrapped around her legs, landing beside her head. But he quickly backed off as she began to recover, slamming her palm on the ground to push herself up. Rage and grass stains speckled her cheeks as she bore her slightly pointed teeth at the teachers.

"That's it!" She slammed her fists again on the ground, shaking it beneath their feet. "I'm gonna-"

As everyone heard the sound barrier breaking along with a thunderous crash, they watched as green light rocketed into her face and stopped midair, delivering the momentum and power right into her skull.

Deku landed on the ground with his fist and his knee planted firmly.

"Bout time someone like you showed up." Aizawa sighed.

Serizawa smiled. "Nice hit!"

Deku stood up and bowed to each of them. "Senseis. I'm sorry I didn't come sooner."

"The staff cleared the stadium pretty quickly. And we've had our hands full trying to contain Gigantuana here." Serizawa breathed.

"You alright?" Deku asked.

He nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine. Stiff springs, 's all."

Realizing this was the new teacher from America, and looked familiar, Deku smiled. "You must be Eri, Kota, and Katsuma's teacher."

As Serizawa looked up to meet eyes with him, the villainess rose up again, rubbing her jaw. "You big jerk!"

"Enough!" Cementoss shouted from the pyramid. With his Quirk, cement spilled from the arena over the woman. She struggled but lost the fight completely, feeling her legs now entirely cocooned by his cement mix that instantly hardened against her skin.

Feeling confident that she was now caught, Deku turned to his former teacher. "Mr. Aizawa, release your Quirk."

"We have no idea how to release those people from her body." He answered.

"That's how she's so big?"

"She absorbed several civilians and a few heroes." Serizawa chimed in.

"Absorption?" Deku stood in thought. "Why did she attack the sports festival?"

Over the speaker system, an unrecognized voice spoke out, apparently answering their questions before saying much. "All pieces of the chess board moving against each other. For every one of us you take down, we gain more support."

The woman laughed in her cement prison.

"Where's that coming from?" Deku asked.

The pro-hero and three teachers looked around.

To Deku, this was a whole new villain. It did not sound like anyone he faced already today. "Come on, Danger Sense. Talk to me." He thought to himself.

"Where are the rest of the staff?" He asked as he turned to Aizawa.

"Principal Nezu, come in." Mr. Aizawa insisted as he tapped his earpiece.

"Everything's under control here. I've apprehended an ally of our femme fatale. But they are not alone, as I'm sure you're already aware." He explained on his end to Aizawa, Serizawa, and Cementoss.

"He's not in the booths. So he must be hacked into the system somewhere." Deku thought aloud.

"He'd have to be on the campus to hack us. The firewall's too strong for even hacking Quirks over the UA walls." The one-eyed old teacher said.

"Then that narrows it down. Where are the students?" The hero asked.

"You know the protocol. All students returned to their dorms under lockdown." His former sensei glared.

"Anywhere else?" Deku asked.

Aizawa thought for a moment. Serizawa shared a look with him as they reached the same conclusion. The problem students they all knew were all injured during the sports festival.

"Mr. Serizawa!" Recovery Girl's voice rang through his earpiece. "Your students keep coming back to me!"

Hearing her voice was enough for Deku. He blasted off into the air straight for the UA main building. Getting where he needed to be was easy as there was now a hole in the side where the glass and the elevator were supposed to go. Upon landing inside, he recognized the floor as the same one for the nurse's office.

Once he entered, he found a handful of students from the sports festival, all elated to see him there. Hearing the door and the excitement, Recovery Girl ran in from the back. "You must go! A villain got Eri Aizawa!"

"Where did they take her?!" Deku asked as One For All powered up around him.

"Down the elevator! A villain with a flame Quirk and a boy with a gravity reversing Quirk." She told him.

Not wasting a second, he ran back out and leapt down the open shaft. On the bottom level, he dashed through the hallway with great speed, sending flyers off the walls. Finding nothing inside the building, he ran outside and jetted himself into the sky for a better view. Overlooking the campus, he found nothing. No getaway vehicles outside the gates, no possible sewer drain connections. Of course, UA was too heavily fortified to get in or out undetected.

Feeling he had reached a dead end, he flew back inside to find out what happened to the others. After entering the office again, he went to the back with Recovery Girl at work, where two of his biggest fans were bedridden, and another girl that he immediately knew was Froppy's little sister sat in a chair beside Kota. The injuries he sustained made Deku's heart sink.

"What happened to them?! They didn't receive this during the festival, did they?" Deku asked.

The little old woman scuttled from bed to bed administering small pecks on their cheeks. "No! Their sports festival injuries are just mosquito bites compared to this!" She took a moment to breathe. In the past, she would have been tempted to chastise the elder for encouraging such suicidal behavior on the students. But she wanted to think positively of Deku. He was in their place long ago.

"The villains showed up out of nowhere. Just out here in the hall apparently. From what I can see, the students fought to the best of their abilities. Darn them for thinking their Quirks were without limits! Young Shimano here overworked his cell activation to the point of full body exhaustion! Much of his cells went into a dormant state suddenly and he will need a while to rest it off. Asui sustained some minor burns on her arms and inside her mouth as well. Those toxics in large quantity almost burned her tastebuds permanently! As for Izumi..." She sighed.

Deku approached his bed. He lay still with his eyes shut. His shirt was in blackened shreds over his chest and his upper body was covered in a sickening dark burn that reached his face. His arms were completely black. "He'll make it." Recovery Girl admitted. "But most of these burns will remain visible scars for a long time."

"Were you able to find Ms. Aizawa?" She asked.

Deku lowered his head in shame, slowly shaking it. "Aizawa and the other teachers have captured two villains and are actively searching for a third. At least one of them could help us... But if they don't, I might have an idea where they're taking her."

Chapter Text

"This is not up for discussion." Serizawa told his students once again laying in beds in the infirmary.

"Eri's been kidnapped by the villains!" Kota shouted. He strained and laid himself back down against the restraints in his bed.

"Sensei, we can't stand by and watch our friend like this…" Katsuma butt in. Satsuki nodded in between their beds.

"I understand." Serizawa sighed. "But you are not licensed to help. Interfering is vigilantism, which is its own can of worms you don't want to get into."

"Sensei…" Katsuma repeated. "I don't think you understand us here." He looked to his classmates for reassurance with his words. Clenching his fists, he continued, "We cannot stand by and watch."

Serizawa pinched his brow. "This is extremely dangerous. The Purity Alliance reminds me of the League of Villains. And you know how dangerous they were. If you leave this room and go anywhere near them, you could die. And if you don't die, you could be expelled. The smallest consequence I can think UA would do is removal from the hero course. Each of you are good, strong young adults. But you are not ready for this. I am ordering you to remain here at UA until young Ms. Aizawa is found."

Satsuki, true to her character, was the first to bow her head in submission. She knew as much as her male counterparts how much Eri meant to them all, but was not strong in debate. Especially one which could not be won legally.

Kota and Katsuma both groaned silently and lowered their heads, mostly in thought.

"Mr. Aizawa and Deku will lead the mission where he and Uravity came from." Mr. Serizawa explained. "I know what this means for you, but stay out of it. I'll be on the campus if you need me. They asked me to stay behind and watch the students. Seems they have a reputation for meddling in hero business. Stay here. I won't be far."

Before their homeroom teacher could leave the room, their classmate Gomuhosu burst through the door. "Satsuki, Izumi, Shimano!" He exclaimed with his eyebrows uncharacteristically high on his face.

"Watch them for me." Serizawa patted his shoulder.

"My friends, I am so sorry I was not there to help…" He sighed. Silently, their teacher slipped out past the waiting room.

"It's alright, Yamirato." Katsuma said while rubbing his own neck.

"What else have I missed?" He asked.

"Mr. Serizawa just told us not to go after Aizawa." Satsuki explained.

"Mr. Aizawa is perfectly capable of handling himself in spite of his age and past injuries." Gomuhosu stated.

The three looked at each other for a second. "No not Mr. Aizawa, Eri." Katsuma corrected.

"Is that why you refer to her first name?" He asked.

"We're her friends. Where've you been?" Kota snapped from his bed.

Gomuhosu sighed. "I was on my way back to the class seats when the alarms went off. They evacuated us back to our dorms until the campus was declared safe not too long ago. I deduced you all would be here along with…Eri."

"She was here." Kota grumbled.

Satsuki sat back down beside Kota. "Even if you weren't so hurt… I don't think we could find Eri better than Deku."

Kota groaned and laid back. Satsuki wiped her eyes and laid down beside him on his bed. Katsuma glanced over to them and smiled for a moment.

"I hate to say it, but Asui is right, Izumi. You'll have to stay here." He said as he sat up.

"Me?!" Kota snapped.

"What are you talking about?" Gomuhosu spoke up.

"Dude, you're covered in at least third degree burns! I doubt you'd be able to use your Quirk all the way right now, let alone keep up." Katsuma addressed.

Kota shot up out of his bed and got in his classmate's face. "What did you say to me?!"

"I did not mean that competitively. I meant that to help you." The curly-haired teen said.

"Whatever. You're not helping. And you're not going to stop me, either." Kota turned around and began to walk to the door.

"Then if nothing will keep you here, I will go to make sure you are safe too." Satsuki stated.

"No." Kota pointed a finger at her. "You're staying here."

"We can't stop you. And you can't stop us." Katsuma shrugged as he stood up.

Satsuki gave a small smile.

Kota exhaled through his nostrils heavily. "If you're coming, fine. But I won't wait for you."

"That's fine. We'll wait for you if you fall behind though." Katsuma snickered as he jogged ahead of the two.

"Excuse me! Where do you think you guys are going?" Their gray-skinned cartoonish Quirk classmate questioned as he stood before them. Apparently, having been ignored was beginning to irritate him. They were speechless for a moment, knowing they would have to cross him before they start their dangerous, and yet inescapable mission.

It was a dark, moonless night when Deku led a team of strong fighter heroes toward the manor where Uravity was kept.

Similar in protocol to the bust weeks ago, they had a hero at every major entrance, with police and a few longer range heroes on standby watching from the air and the bushes.

Behind Deku was Ingenium, who he knew as his good friend Tenya Iida.

"Any movement?" Deku asked through his communication earpiece.

"Nothing from out here." Can't Stop Twinkling reported, as he stood beside a small team of cops. "The lights are on, but do be careful."

"Got it." Deku nodded. "Alright, Dyna-Might. Give them a good loud knock."

"Don't have to tell me twice." Dyna-Might said with a smirk as his hand was already pulling back the pin on his grenade-gauntlet aimed at the back door where a large garden rested.

As soon as the deafening explosion shook the house, everyone burst through the doors. Some heroes, like Tsyukoyumi, jumped through the larger windows.

In a matter of seconds, the mansion was cleared, room by room. But they found nothing. No people or papers anywhere. It was obvious then that they had evacuated as soon as UA was attacked. Right after Deku and Uravity escaped them.

However, in the main spacious living room with a large traditional fireplace, Dyna-Might had his hands pointed at none other than Miku Hokori, the teleporting first wife of Akira Hokori. She sat in a rocking chair staring at the painting on the wall above the mantle with a content smile on her face.

"Alright, lady. Stand up with your hands in the air." He ordered her. Deku, Ingenium, and Tsukoyumi among a few others circled the fireplace.

She stood up, but kept her arms down. In her right hand was a small radio control. "You've lost, heroes."

Their eyes grew wide. They attempted to jump back. But the fireplace erupted in a fiery explosion that blew the entire structure off of its supports. Police and heroes outside were knocked off their feet as thousands of pieces of the manor launched in every direction.

"Men down!" They called out.

Can't Stop Twinkling and Aizawa were the first to recover from the shockwave and rush to the burning wreckage.

The main living space was now nothing more than a crater. Aizawa scrambled over crumbling beams and rebar with his prosthetic leg. His first sight was the group of heroes closest to the blast. Miraculously, the worst he saw were severe burns on their bodies.

Hunched against a burning pillar of marble, Deku heaved as One For All powered down within him. Milliseconds into the blast, he had lunged forward and ensnared as many heroes and police as he could and pulled them back from the center of the blast. In that spec of time, he watched Miku disappear via her teleportation, winking at him as if to follow her.

"She's…not far…" He said over to Aizawa. "Teleported…"

"Sweep the area!" Aizawa quickly called back. "She can only teleport short distances! Catch her before she leaps again!"

"It was a trap all along…" Battle Fist breathed as she regained her footing and approached the Number One Hero. "I can't believe we fell for it."

"This is on me…" Deku sighed as he looked around at the chaotic scene. "I should have suspected they would abandon this place after we escaped."

"Now the question is, 'where did they go?'" The orange-haired heroine addressed.

Chapter Text

"Yamirato, Eri is our friend." Katsuma tried to explain to him. "We all feel we should have done more to save her."

Gomuhosu shook his head. "I understand. I like her. I don't want anything bad to happen to her, but we need to trust in the heroes to do it."

Kota slammed his fist on his mattress. "I will not sit here and watch, like some sick TV program!"

"We're not even able to watch anything…" Satsuki lowered her head.

"We are not yet heroes!" Gomuhosu raised his voice. "I put my faith in Deku before. I can do it again."

Satsuki sighed. "He's right… Deku himself is going after them. If anyone will bring Eri back, it's him."

Katsuma and Kota exchanged a frown. "We're not helpless little kids anymore. Deku isn't the only one capable." The former declared. "And besides, Eri wouldn't want to be treated like…" He stopped himself, remembering where he first heard about that little girl rescued by Lemillion, Aizawa, and Deku when they were still in high school from that horrible Yakuza.

Regardless of the importance of following rules as UA students, Katsuma was torn between his unyielding trust in his idol Deku, and honoring his good friend Eri.

"What do you think, Shimano?" Satsuki turned to him.

Gomuhosu shook his head in his field of vision as his two friends silently stood, having already given their takes on the matter.

"These Purity Alliance punks were able to kidnap Uravity and Eri. They know the heroes are coming so they've no doubt prepared for anything they can do… Even Deku can be beaten if there are hostages. His number one goal is to save everyone and so they'll definitely use that to their advantage even if they can't take him in a fight." He rambled.

"Geez I thought the shoes were the only thing about Deku we were copying." Kota rolled his eyes.

"So what are you saying?" Satsuki asked.

Katsuma said nothing. He stood up and walked out of the room, right past Gomuhosu.

"Shimano!" He spun around. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going back to my dorm. I can't wait in here."

Gomuhosu sighed in relief and nodded. "Thank you."

Kota shot to his feet and stomped after his classmate. Satsuki bowed in respect to their gray-colored schoolmate before joining them out in the hall.

"Shimano! You can't be serious." Kota hissed as he and Satsuki speed-walked beside him.

Katsuma kept on walking without giving a response.

"Just like that, you're gonna give up and go back to your dorm?" Kota prodded.

As he continued to walk down the hall, out of sight from the infirmary, he turned behind him to glance at his friends. "No. I'm going to get Eri back."

Their mouths dropped, then Kota's turned into a smile. "Ha! I knew it."

Katsuma shrugged. "We can't assist with the fight but they'll never suspect us to be there to rescue Eri."

Satsuki dashed ahead and grabbed their hands. She waited a moment, breathing heavily as her head hung down. "If we're doing this… We are not going to fight. I'm only coming to make sure all three of my friends make it home."

Kota's fingers laced with hers tenderly, while Katsuma gripped her hand with firm determination on his face.

"It's a deal." He proclaimed.

"Agreed." Kota said.

The three made their way outside on the sidewalk that led to Alliance Heights, when they heard someone follow from behind. At first none of them paid heed to the mystery person as it was probably just another random student on their way to their own dorm, when they heard him sniffle.

"Gomu?!" Satsuki gasped.

"So you really are going after her…" He said with his head hung down. "Despite everything we talked about."

"You can't stop us, Yamirato." Kota frowned.

Katsuma silently agreed.

"…I know. That's why I'm going with you. To make sure you hold to that promise, that you will not engage in combat with villains but only help Aizawa-chan to escape." Gomuhosu declared. "That is my duty as a student of UA and future pro-hero."

"Appreciate it, Class Rep. Welcome aboard!" Katsuma approached him and patted his back in support.

The four classmates looked on to the UA wall. Each one felt scared for sure. While they all had experience with the Purity Alliance group, this was something all too new and risky.

If they got caught, it could cost them their enrollment. If they got captured, it could make the heroes' positions far more difficult. And even though they all had faith in Deku and the other heroes, the thought of Eri being used as a hostage against them, and the torment they must be inflicting was too much for the students to sit and wait.

Despite how contentious it was at first, they were even glad that Gomuhosu was joining them. They needed his level-headedness and critical thinking.

They all took one last look at one another within the safety of UA, before they ventured out into the city.

"First things first: we need disguises." Katsuma insisted.

"Good idea. We mustn't be seen." Gomuhosu agreed.

The foursome stepped off of the train and began searching for any cheap clothing stores. "There's one. A thrift shop." Kota pointed out beyond the crowd.

"There's no time to waste!" Gomuhosu rushed ahead, eager to hide his face from any suspecting UA spies that most likely did not exist. But, one can never be too careful…

Kota grabbed Satsuki's hand and they followed after. Katsuma was last to make his way over through the bustling crowd of commuters.

"Eri is better with fashion than I am but I suppose I could be the judge of your disguises." Satsuki volunteered.

"Girls are usually better at that anyway." Katsuma added as he grabbed some articles of clothing and stepped into a booth.

"Unless you're Can't Stop Twinkling." Gomuhosu stated as he too grabbed some clothes.

Everyone stepped out for Satsuki's big eyes to see.

Kota had removed his hat and put it in a backpack along with his old clothes. Instead he wore a purple prep shirt that was a little too small around his chest. Short golf pants to match. As out of character as he looked, she couldn't hide a blush in her cheeks as her eyes focused on his shirt.

"Well?" He asked, rather impatiently.

"Good! Good! You look good." She broke away her gaze and fanned him off.

"Sup y'all!" Katsuma stepped out of his booth wearing an American cowboy hat with a leather vest and buttoned up plaid shirt.

"It catches attention…but nobody thinks you're a UA student." She gave a thumbs up with a blank stare.

"Hey…"

Gomuhosu's booth opened and he stepped out dressed in all black with his hair dyed black and combed over his face, covering his left eye.

"Goth?" Katsuma asked.

"Is that what this style is?" He asked. "I just thought it blended in the shadows well."

"How do you not know what goth is?" Kota questioned.

Gomuhosu shrugged. "Never paid attention. They were always good at hiding in the background."

Satsuki gave him a supportive smile. "It definitely will work!"

Even though payment for the clothes took quite a bit of their savings, the now disguised students stepped out into the street as new people.

"Now…how exactly are we gonna find the Purity Alliance?" Katsuma asked.

Kota slammed the palm of his hand between his eyes. "Easiest place for that is to search the slums."

"Good thing we're in training." Gomuhosu assured them. "But just in case, we should stay together."

"We're a little…diverse of a group to stay together." Katsuma observed.

"We'll split up but stay in earshot." Kota suggested.

"Better than nothing. And if it's necessary, we'll use our cellphones." Satsuki added.

"Sounds like a good…beginning to a plan." Gomuhosu said deadpanned.

"Good enough with me!" Katsuma cheered before he turned away and wandered down the closest alleyway ahead of the others.

"Hey!" Kota shouted back.

Chapter Text

After what felt like hours, the four UA students in disguise reunited in a large open court in the middle of the city. As planned, they rendezvoused under the statue of Deku, in a position similar to when he defeated Shigaraki years ago.

"Any leads?" Katsuma asked the others.

"Nothing." Kota gruffed.

"Without any clues where to find the Purity Alliance, it'll take far longer than we have." Gomuhosu explained.

"Where's Satsuki? She's supposed to be here." Kota looked around.

They all just realized they were yet another girl short.

"Where did she go?" Katsuma asked.

Kota immediately started running in the direction he last saw her leave. "Purity Alliance or not, I can't let anything happen to her!"

Gomuhosu nodded as he and Katsuma quickly pursued him.

"She might just be a little behind!" Katsuma justified.

"We all agreed to be here on the hour, sharp!" Kota yelled back to him.

"I understand Izumi's sense of urgency and I agree that the best course of action is to find her where she was last seen rather than wait." Their gray-skinned classmate concurred as they ran.

"Careful there! You're starting to sound like one of us!" Katsuma smirked. Gomuhosu responded silently with a frown.

The three boys dashed down a rather dark alleyway where they last saw their froggy friend. Gomuhosu just behind the two donning their red shoes that cut against the cold pavement.

After a moment more, Kota turned his head, sensing a lack of any sound coming from behind. Where Gomuhosu should have been, was nothing but the empty alley space they passed.

"Shimano!" He shouted.

Katsuma stopped in his tracks and powered up his Quirk as he turned around with his fists raised.

Kota frantically looked around. "First Satsuki. Now Yamirato!"

"Satsuki?" Katsuma asked.

"Will you take this seriously for one second?!" Kota snapped at him.

"Hey relax! Maybe he just fell behind." Katsuma assured him.

Kota called out their classmates by name to be sure. As he did, Katsuma felt another presence in the direction they were originally rushing toward, and turned to see a female figure in a dark hoodie and skirt.

"Looking for your friends?" She asked as her hoodie opened up, and on the inside were several pieces of what looked like old paper with ink drawings of people on them. Her fingers brushed the outlines of two drawings that resembled Satsuki and Gomuhosu. "They were being very loud, and very nosy."

"Release them!" Katsuma demanded.

She snickered. "Why should I? I think I like my new works of art. Some of the best yet. My uncle will be pleased."

"Your uncle?" As Katsuma questioned her, Kota turned and glared at the drawings under her coat.

"What have you done to our friends?!" He asked.

Again she laughed. "I already told Cowboy here that I made them my newest art pieces."

"Who's your uncle?" Katsuma asked.

"That's none of your concern…" She said as her smile dropped and her eyes narrowed at the boys. Her hands raised out and her fingers flexed, showing off her sharp, black nails that appeared to drip ink.

"Don't let her touch you!" Katsuma told Kota.

"I noticed that!" Kota shouted as he blasted a stream of water at the girl.

With lightning reflexes, she dashed to the side and remained in a low defensive stance.

"You're gonna ruin my drawings, jerk! One gust of water to my paper and your friends disintegrate with it." She warned them.

Katsuma put his hand on Kota's shoulder. "We promised we wouldn't fight offensively!"

"Like Rubber Hose is here to see it." Kota rolled his eyes.

"It's not just about Yamirato!" Katsuma said.

The girl giggled and rushed them in their bickering.

Kota instinctively released more water between them, causing her to trip in an attempt to dodge the attack and her shoulder collided with his body.

Katsuma gasped and scrambled to help his friend up and grab the villainess. As he grabbed both their hands, he noticed the water roll off of her hoodie without leaving a trace of wetness. "Waterproof jacket…" He thought.

Her same speedy reflexes allowed her to rip herself away from the young hero-to-be and flex her sharp nails.

"If I am to catch her, I'll have to be faster!" Katsuma thought as Cell Activation began to flow through his body. Similarly to Deku's green lightning, his Quirk emitted a yellow glow around him.

The villainess giggled. "Wanna go, bro?"

Katsuma dashed at her, head-on. She slid to the side and reached out to cut him when Katsuma twisted his body away. The girl ended up tackling him and pinned him down for a moment.

Curse whatever teenage hormones were causing him to hesitate throwing her off! She snickered and lowered her face close to his own. "You're not that bad looking. I have been in the market for a new boyfriend after my last one let me down."

Kota aimed his hands and blasted her with a jetstream strong enough to throw her completely off of his classmate.

"Izumi! Aim for her head! Her jacket is waterproof!" Katsuma shouted.

"You don't give me orders!" Kota snapped as he blasted her again, this time minding where Katsuma told him to go.

But by then, she had already recovered and was scrambling away into the darkness.

Katsuma activated his Quirk again and rolled into her, this time pinning her down. Kota took the opportunity to spray them both on the ground until the water from her face dripped down her hoodie. Within minutes of him spraying them both, ink began to leak from her clothes into a giant puddle.

From that puddle, the people from her drawings emerged. Satsuki and Gomuhosu among them crawled out of the puddle completely covered in black ink and looked over at the scene that had transpired.

Kota and Katsuma held the girl on the ground with her arms tied behind her back.

"You're really making me like you difficult!" She hissed under Katsuma.

"Stop talking." He sighed.

"So…you beat her." Gomuhosu pointed out.

Satsuki smiled.

Kota returned the smile for a moment. Unfortunately, the villainess noticed it.

"See, Cowboy? We could be like that too." She smirked.

Katsuma groaned. "We need to get her to the police."

"First thing's first." Kota knelt down next to her. "Who's your uncle and why did he send you after us?"

"Wait, what?" Gomuhosu asked with his cartoonish eyes growing bigger.

Kota sharpened his eyes on her. "Your uncle is Akira Hokori, isn't he?"

Her eyes struggled to maintain contact. Her smile grew bigger but she stayed quiet.

"He sent you after us? He knew we were coming?" Kota asked.

"Nobody sent me!" She argued. "I went out on my own. I wanted to find a boyfriend."

"You wanted to find a husband for your weird cult." Kota hissed.

She started to blush. "N-No! I'm not ready for that! And my family isn't pushing for me to get married yet."

"If you're out here, then you probably don't know what happened to your uncle." Katsuma said.

She looked up at the boy with worry in her eyes.

"Heroes raided your family's mansion." He explained. "Your uncle has been arrested."

Every one of them knew that last part was a lie. They would debate the morality of it later, as they all silently agreed she would be more compliant if she assumed her family was already in custody.

She sighed and relaxed under Katsuma.

"Let's take her to the police." Satsuki said.

"What about these citizens?" Gomuhosu pointed to the other victims of hers who were once stuck in her papers, now shivering in the alley covered in black goop.

"How are you two?" Kota asked, facing Satsuki mostly.

"We're fine." She answered. Gomuhosu nodded in agreement. "We were only stuck in her pages for a few minutes but these people look pretty shaken up. They might have been trapped for hours."

"Alright. You and Yamirato take a look at them and maybe walk them to a hospital while Shimano and I will take this freak to the closest station." He stated.

Satsuki nodded. But before she left, she turned and gave him a hug.

Everyone turned to them with shock. Kota was less concerned about the ink she now pressed into his clothes and more that she was hugging him at all.

The villainess giggled. "You lucky ducks."

"Alright, on your feet." Katsuma ordered, pulling her up.

"Uhh…Asui?" Kota questioned.

Satsuki pulled away with a light blush in her cheeks. Her large froggy mouth frowned and hid her tongue as her hands fell behind her back. "S-Sorry, Izumi." Guess she misread their current relationship.

Kota felt a little bad, seeing her react in that way. But he forced himself back into the game as Katsuma began walking the villainess away. "We'll meet you guys at the hospital."