Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

All Might stood before Midoriya Izuku, looking to all the world to be the very image of what it means to be a hero, before slicking back one of the two large spikes of hair on his head and extracting a singular hair. Holding it out, he spoke with all the gravitas one would expect of passing on an over century old legendary quirk, “Now, eat this.”

“Come again?” Izuku said, a look of pure confusion on his face.

“Hahahaha! My apologies, but I was hoping you’d make a face like that,” All Might explained jovially. “In order to pass on my quirk, you need to ingest some of my DNA. Now quickly! There are only three hours until the UA entrance exam!”

“R-right!” Izuku said, quickly taking the hair. He fumbled with it for a moment, before eating as he would a singular noodle. Finishing swallowing, he made a face as he looked toward the number one hero. “How long should it take for me to get the power?”

“Depending on digestion, it shouldn’t take more than about an hour,” All Might said, shrinking down to his more skeletal appearance.

‘Or the kid could be a weirdo and start getting it damn near instantly,’ said a voice, seemingly from nowhere.

Startled, Izuku looked around. For some reason he sensed that someone other than himself was confused. Several someone elses.

“Is everything alright young Midoriya?” All Might asked.

“I just heard someone else talk just now, a man, sort of a, I don’t know, gruff sounding voice? I couldn’t tell where it was coming from.”

“I didn’t hear anything,” All Might said, unknowingly stopping a mutter storm before it could begin.

‘Hold on,’ said another voice, this time a woman’s. ‘Can you hear us? ’

“Uhhh, yes woman who I don’t see,” Izuku said. “I can hear you, and I’d really like to know where you are.”

Once more Izuku sensed emotions he didn’t feel, this time a mixture of shock, awe, and confusion. ‘This happened way faster than we were expecting, ’ said a third voice, this time a man who sounded half a breath from a coughing fit. ‘Alright, Nine, One for All doesn’t just pass on the stockpile, it also passes on what seems to be a copy of the personalities of the previous users, who can then share the senses of its current wielder.’

Before Izuku could verbalize the freakout he was having, the woman spoke up again. ‘You should probably tell Toshi this too, so he doesn’t have a heart attack.’

“Oh, right, that’s actually a good idea,” Izuku said, before passing the information on to All Might.

“It what!?” he said, taking a step back in shock. “I knew I would sometimes on rare occasion see shadowy images of the previous users, but to, seemingly pass over the predecessors' very souls?”

There was a pause as Izuku sensed one of the previous users being overjoyed for a moment, before the voice that sounded like it was about to cough said ‘Not now Bruce,’ the exhaustion clear in his tone.

“What was that?” Izuku asked.

‘The third user said something, and apparently blocked you out so you couldn’t hear him,’ said the woman.

‘The exact nature of what we are is still up for debate,’ said a new voice, older than the rest, though not by much. ‘But tell Eighth that his name is Yagi Toshinori, he was given the quirk by Shimura Nana, and that his favorite burgers came from an American gas station brand called Sheetz he only found out on the East Coast near Maryland and Virginia. That’ll prove we’re real.’

When Izuku said as much, All Might took a moment to process it. “It’s true then, but, have I not told you my name?”

“N-not that I can recall,” Izuku said, before looking away for a moment. “And the gruff voice says you haven’t. Oh, and his name’s apparently Banjo Daigoro, and he’s the 5th user.”

“Oh, I thought you’d kept using my hero name out of reverence for me, my apologies. But uh,” he shook his head before continuing, his voice somber and eyes focused on something far away. “Nevermind, it wouldn’t be appropriate. We only have three hours before the start of the entrance exam, and you need to go prepare.”

‘Tell him I already know what he wanted to say,’ the woman said, ‘and that I’m proud of him.’

“Uh, All, er, Yagi-sama, the female user says she knows what you wanted to say, and that she’s proud of you. I’m going to guess that she’s Shimura-san?”

‘She’s the only woman in here,’ said a new voice, a young man.

“I’m not certain myself,” All Might said, his voice heavy with emotion, “but thank you, Nana.”

‘Not to ruin the moment,’ Daigoro said, ‘but there’s something else she’s been complaining about for the last few months.’

‘Oh right,’ she said. ‘He needs to sit your parents down and explain everything. I’d’ve done the same to him when I gave him the quirk, but well, he knows why I didn’t.’

‘Eighth’s an orphan,’ the young voice explained.

‘Didn’t need to know that,’ Izuku thought to himself, idly wondering if the previous users could hear his thoughts before saying “Shimura-san also wanted you to tell my mom everything about One for All and all that. It would certainly help explain why I suddenly have a quirk.”

“Ah, of course. Meet me here after the exam, and I will explain. Though if I may, why just explain to your mother, and not your father?”

“He’s got a job overseas in America and doesn’t come by often,” Izuku explained, before thinking ‘comes by so rarely I don’t even remember seeing him in the flesh once.’

‘The trend of us coming from broken families continues,’ Daigoro said, his voice smiling.

‘Nana and I had perfectly happy families, I'll have you know,’ the young voice replied.

‘Two out of nine is still enough for it to be a trend,’ the voice on the edge of coughing said. ‘And Ninth, if you didn’t figure it out already, yes we can hear your thoughts. There’s a way to shut us out, we’ll teach you it while we’re on the train.’

‘Ok. And I’d prefer if you called me by my name, not my number, if that’s alright.’

‘Fair. Though to tell you the truth, we mostly call each other by our number unless it’s our immediate successor-slash-predecessor.’

Izuku said nothing, just nodded slightly before making his way to the train.

“I made it,” Izuku said, marveling at UA’s massive main building.

‘Now you just gotta pass the exam,’ Daigoro said, ‘which given we’re here? It’s gonna be a cake walk.’

‘Wouldn’t that be cheating though? ’ Izuku thought.

‘UA has a policy where anyone with intelligence enhancing or sentient quirks are allowed to talk to them during tests, given certain restrictions like communicating or looking at other people’s tests,’ the older voice, who’d introduced himself as Hikage explained.

‘Restrictions we couldn’t break if we wanted,’ En, the younger voice, said.

“Move it Deku!” Bakugo yelled from behind Izuku, bringing him out of his head. “Get out of my way or you’re dead.”

“K-Kachan!” he said, startled. “G-good morning! Let’s do our best—” Bakugo just walked past, shoulder checking Izuku as he passed.

‘He seems pleasant. Friend of yours?’ Nana asked.

‘Known each other our whole lives, used to be the best of friends, but we fell apart when he got his quirk and I didn’t get mine.’ Izuku remembered back to the day he first learned that not all men were created equal, when the then four-year-old Kachan first used his quirk on Izuku.

Izuku sensed a rage coming from one of the vestiges so great he tripped on his own feet. ‘This is how I die,’ were his last thoughts as he fell, before noticing the ground had stopped coming up to meet him.

“Are you ok?” asked a brown haired girl holding his arm who was, in all ways save her stomach, cute and squishy looking. He let out a startled “eep!” as she turned him around weightlessly. Once he was upright, she brought her fingers together, which let out a slight pink glow as he felt himself return to the clutches of gravity. “Sorry about using my quirk on you like that,” she said, “I just thought that falling on your face would be a rough start to your test.”

Izuku stood there, awestruck for a moment, as she walked away. Once she was gone, Daigoro spoke up, laughter in his voice as he said ‘Hello? Earth to Izuku?’

‘I talked to a girl!’ Izuku mentally yelled in excitement.

This time, Daigoro actually belly laughed at him.

‘You need to actually say something to her for it to count,’ En said, his smile audible.

‘Er, right, sorry,’ Izuku thought, hanging his head as he entered the school.

‘Don’t worry, I’ve seen worse,’ Nana said kindly. ‘You should’ve seen Toshi the first time he tried to ask someone out.' All of the vestiges laughed at the memory.

‘Sorry, just, not used to it. I’m pretty sure that’s the first time since kindergarten that a girl talked to me without mocking me or beating me up.’

At that, the joyous emotions of the vestiges faded, mostly replaced with concern, save for two, who were livid with anger.

‘So not only did your best friend turn into a bully, but so did everyone else?’ said either the 2nd or 3rd user, Izuku wasn’t sure which as they hadn’t introduced themselves.

‘I mean, yes?’ Izuku thought back on all the bullying he’d experienced through the years. ‘It got worse when I got into middle school, but the last few months aren’t as bad as they had been.’

‘And the teachers didn’t do anything about it?’ asked the other dark age vestige.

Rather than reply with words, Izuku recalled back to the morning of the day he met All Might, where the teacher had done nothing as all his classmates used their quirks in the classroom, something they weren’t supposed to do, before telling the whole class he’d planned on attending UA, resulting in mocking and ridicule. That same teacher had even still been in the room when, at the end of class, Kachan had told him “why don’t you take a swan dive off the roof of the school and pray for a quirk in your next life?”

This time the inferno of rage seemed to come from all of the vestiges.

‘And all of this because you didn’t have a meta ability?’ said the first dark age vestige to speak.

‘Meta ability? Oh right that’s an old-timey way of saying quirks. Yes, they did all of this because I’m quirkless.’

Izuku didn’t know how, but this somehow managed to make the vestiges more enraged. He reflexively started to shake in his chair from terror, which seemed to calm them down somewhat.

‘We’re not mad at you, Izuku,’ Yoichi said. ‘We’re mad at the people at your school who decided to let you get abused all because of their bigotry.’

‘The written portion is about to start,’ Nana said, her voice cold and even as a blade. ‘Once that’s done and you can have your lunch break, we’re having you text Toshi all of this.’

‘Before you do that, can you walk me through how to actually use the quirk? I think A-Yagi-sama was about to do that, but got distracted by all of you.’

‘Right, after the practical then.’

‘That cannot have been that easy,’ Izuku thought as he walked out of the testing room.

‘Kid, that was a test for high schoolers,' Daigoro said, ‘you’ve got over half a dozen adults in your head, and we were around for most of the history questions. Of fucking course it was that easy.’

‘I did tell you it was going to be a cakewalk,’ Hikage said. ‘Now head to the bathroom, we need to get you ready to use One for All.’

Izuku took a handicap stall and locked the door. Letting out a breath, he whispered aloud “What now?”

‘Clench your butt cheeks and say smash,’ Nana said, entirely serious.

Izuku blinked several times, his thoughts still. “Huh?”

Nana and Daigoro laughed at that, her a light chuckle, and him a hearty belly laugh. Izuku could swear he felt several of the others amused by that, but they at least blocked themselves out so he couldn’t hear them laughing at him.

Yoichi spoke up as the laughter died, saying ‘No but legitimately the way to manifest One for All’s power is to tense up your muscles and to conceptualize the idea of the energy you’re calling upon. Easiest way to do that? Clench your ass and say smash.’

‘But make sure you remember it’s just supposed to be like training wheels on a bike,' called either the 2 nd or 3 rd . ‘You don’t actually haveta say it every time, and if you do I’mma strangle you.’

‘But Yagi-sama says it for all his moves?’

‘And that is one of several reasons me and three can’t stand the blonde buffoon,’ the other dark age ghost, presumably the 2 nd user, said. ‘Imagine a pro biker doing the Tour de France with kiddy wheels stuck to his bike.’

‘Alright,’ Izuku thought, uncertain, before letting out a huff. “Here I go. Smash.”

Lines of red energy coursed all through Izuku’s body, his whole body glowing with power. ‘NINE DON’T MOVE!!’ the 2nd screamed.

Startled, Izuku dropped the energy and took a step back. ‘What, what happened, what’d I do wrong?’

‘That was way too much force,’ Nana warned. ‘There was no way your body would’ve been able to handle that much so soon, we could already feel your body straining under the pressure. Let’s try that again, but let’s start at half power and we’ll adjust it from there.’

Izuku nodded and did as instructed, going to 50% of his max output with One for All and working his way down, farther and farther, until eventually he didn’t even think he was using a full percentage of the quirk’s full power, and the red veins disappeared, leaving him standing there, body arcing with minty green lightning.

‘Don’t worry about using so little of it,’ Yoichi said, feeling Izuku’s emotions before he even said anything. ‘That’s about the outage I had near the end, and we calced it to be about a ten-fold increase.’

‘But-’ Izuku began, only for En to interrupt, ‘Yagi-sama rarely uses more than about 20% of his full output. That punch he threw against the slime villain drowning explode-bitch? That was with 80% of One for All. How often does an All Might fight end in changing the weather?’

Izuku thought, before taking a deep breath to steady himself as he deactivated One for All. “Alright,” he said aloud, “let’s do this.”

He must have spent a long while figuring out a safe percentage to use, because by the time Izuku got out to where he was stationed to take the practical, several others were standing around, waiting for the test to start. 

Izuku scanned the crowd, silently hoping that no one from Aldera had been stationed at the same testing grounds as him, when he saw the girl who’d stopped him from falling when he’d first gotten on campus. He was walking over to her when he felt a hand grab his shoulder.

“That girl appears to be doing some kind of meditation,” said the stern voiced owner of the hand, “Why are you bothering her? Do you intend to interfere?”

“Eep!” Izuku shrieked, “N-no, sorry, I was just, she did something nice to me when we first got here and I wanted to thank her for it!”

“Hmm, you can thank her by leaving her be to maintain her focus,” the boy said, removing his hand but blocking Izuku’s way with a very mechanical arm chop.

‘But I just wanted to thank her,’ Izuku thought dejectedly. Before his headmates could say anything, Present Mic’s voice came screaming out from the main building “Begin!”

‘Izuku now,’ Daigoro commanded, and in an instant Izuku was once again glowing as he ran into the mock city. A 1-point robot came barreling out from around a corner, only to get punched in the chest by Izuku, shattering its torso and severing its arms and head.

‘These things aren’t that durable, ’ Izuku thought. ‘There is no way that this little amount of One for All is able to do that much damage if it were well built. Probably not even steel, but aluminum.’

“What are you waiting for!?” came Present Mic’s voice. “The test’s already started!”

A quick glance back, and Izuku was surprised to see that he was the only one from his group who’d entered the exam.

‘Think later, kill robots now ,’ the 2nd commanded, his voice cold. Izuku shook his head and continued on.

As quickly as he could, Izuku ran from the entrance deeper into the city, demolishing any robot he saw with no less than two blows. Once he’d made it about half way through, Hikage spoke up. ‘We should be deep enough in that the others can carve out their hunting grounds.’

“Hunting—" before Izuku could even finish his thoughts he saw a 3-pointer and ran for it, dodging a missile before decapitating it with a single kick. “Slow people are gonna have a hard time with the 3-pointers, what if they get hit!?”

‘Turning back around and destroying every 3-pointer we see?’ En said. ‘I like that plan.’

In truth Izuku spent more time keeping people out of the way of the 3-pointers than destroying them, but that didn’t stop him from leaving a trail of destroyed robots in his path, each one having taken two blows or less.

“49,” Izuku said, having just bisected another 3-pointer before turning to the tall boy with tentacles it had knocked over and was about to shoot. “Are you ok?”

One of his tentacles shifted to have a mouth at one end that said “I’m fine, thanks,” before he flinched. “Did someone just destroy a building?!”

“I hope they made sure it was—” Izuku stopped talking as one of the multi-story buildings across the street crumbled to reveal a giant robot that towered over the street and the test-takers on it.

“The 0-pointer,” the tentacled boy said in awe.

“We should run,” Izuku told him, offering his hand.

“Don’t have to tell me twice,” the boy said as he took Izuku’s hand and turned to run.

Izuku was about to do the same, when he heard a girl groan in pain. Glancing back, he saw the girl from the front gate, lying on the ground, her foot pinned under the remains of what appeared to be a 2-pointer, directly in the path of the 0-pointer.

In an instant Izuku was running toward her. ‘Too far away, not gonna make it in time to pick her up and run. I’ll have to use more of One for All. Anyone have an alternative?’

‘At this point you’ve probably got enough points to make it,’ En said, his voice tense.

‘And they’ve got Recovery Girl on their payroll, so any injuries should be recoverable,’ Daigoro pointed out.

‘They’ve got limits on the robots so that—’ if Nana said anything else Izuku wasn’t listening. He called upon all 100% of One for All’s power, focused it into his legs, and leapt towards the robot. With a shout of “Smash!” he flung his fist forward, creating a shockwave strong enough to make scrap metal of the robot’s head.

‘NINE YOU ASSHAT I FUCKING TOLD YOU NOT TO USE THE FULL POWER YET YOU IDIOT!!!’ the 2nd yelled. It was only at this point that he noticed the pain in his limbs, as both his legs and his right arm were shattered, their skin a horribly bruised brown as they flapped helplessly in the wind as Izuku fell back down toward the asphalt street below.

‘Blame later, stop from being a crushed watermelon now!’ Yoichi said, his voice stern and commanding.

‘Any ideas?’ Izuku asked.

‘You’ve still got one good arm,’ En pointed out.

‘Chiyo can heal a broken arm much better than a splattered head,’ Daigoro said.

‘Punch the ground at the moment of impact, got it. Too early and it won’t work, too late and I won’t have the chance.’ Letting out a scream of agony, Izuku willed his broken right arm to face down toward the ground as he poured One for All into his left. ‘Once I touch the ground I punch, that good?’

‘Good enough for now,’ Nana said, ‘but we’re gonna have a talk about this later!’

Izuku was about to reply when he felt something slam into his chest before breaking. The impact sent him spinning, letting him see that it was the now broken hand of the girl he’d tried to rescue, now laying atop a 3-pointer’s detached missile rack floating high in the air.

‘She’s got a telekinesis or gravity quirk right? Would be really helpful if I wasn’t spinning, now I can’t gauge distance!’ he thought.

‘But you’re slowing down,’ Nana pointed out.

Sure enough, the slap and the wind resistance was enough to stop Izuku’s fall moments before he hit the ground, leaving him floating less than 30cm above the ground.

“R-release,” came the pained voice of the girl above him, before Izuku fell the rest of the way to the ground, followed by several robots that were smashed to pieces, and lastly the missile rack with the girl on it, who chose that moment to empty the contents of her stomach onto the ground.

Fortunately for the both of them, the exam ended then, with Recovery Girl arriving soon after to give them a kiss and send them on their way.

“That sucked,” Izuku said, rising to his feet and palming the gummies Recovery Girl had given him.

“I would think so,” the little old lady said, a knowing look in her eyes, “why if I didn’t know any better I’d say your body wasn’t used to your quirk!”

‘She knows,’ Daigoro said. ‘She and I were best friends.’

‘Good to know,’ Izuku thought. “Sorry about that, I’ll, uh, it won’t happen again.”

‘It had better not,’ said Nana and the 2nd user in chorus.

‘Not to stop the give-Izuku-shit-for-being-an-idiot hour,’ En brought up, much to Izuku’s simultaneous elation and dread, ‘but he needs to get home so he’ll be there when Eighth shows up to explain the sitch.’

‘Oh right, that. Be prepared for tears, my mom’s a cryer.’

‘Yeah, and I don’t imagine she’ll like learning about explode-bitch’s treatment of you,’ grumbled the 2nd.

Chapter Text

“Hey mom, I’m home,” Izuku said, taking off his shoes as he entered the apartment, feeling an anxiousness that was only partially his.

“Izuku dear, how’d the test go?” his mother said, trying badly to hide how much she expected the worst.

“Really well actually!” he said with a wide smile. “The written part was actually really easy, and the practical,” he paused for a moment. “I did really well on the practical too, but something came up that I need to talk to you about.”

“Something wrong?”

“No, no, nothings wrong, just complicated and, gahh,” rather than fail to explain, Izuku allowed One for All to hum along his skin, creating a minty-electric glow across his whole body.

In an instant, Inko’s nose and mouth disappeared behind her hands as tears welled up in her eyes. “My baby’s got a quirk!” she sobbed, a torrent of tears surging forth. In a blur, Izuku got her a package of tissues, before explaining that he’d met a kind man who’d offered to help train him just short of a year prior, and how this training had been enough for his body to, if only barely, handle his quirk.

‘I don’t get why you’re lying to her when we’re gonna tell her the truth once 8 th gets here.’ En commented.

‘Developing a quirk as a teenager is more believable than what actually happened,’ Izuku thought, ‘and I’d rather wait for Yagi-sama to get here and explain.’

“This personal trainer you’ve met,” Inko said, wiping away her tears, “why didn’t you tell me about this before now?”

“We weren’t going far, you can actually see where we were training from the house. You remember Takoba Beach?”

“The unofficial garbage dump the government finally cleaned up?”

“It uh, wasn’t actually the government, that was me.”

Inko paused for a moment, blinking in disbelief. “You cleaned up the entire beach, by yourself? As training? Your trainer had you moving all that old, heavy, rusty metal across sand?”

“Y-yes? Is something wrong with that?”

Inko’s tears dried as she set her face in a smile Izuku knew from first hand experience was anything other than an expression of joy. “I’d like to meet this man, the next time he is available.”

Yagi, of course, had the wondrous timing to chose that moment to ring their doorbell. His luck was made even better by Inko being the one to answer the door.

“Whatever you’re selling, I’m not interested,” she said before even looking the shrunken form of the number one hero in the eye.

Yagi chuckled, before speaking. “No, I’m not here to sell you anything. It’s just come to my attention that my protégée neglected to tell his parents about me, so I thought I’d make an introduction. My name is Yagi Toshinori, are you young-Midoriya’s mother?”

The smile returned to Inko’s face. “Indeed I am, he’d just finished telling me about your regime when you arrived. Please, come inside.”

What ensued was over twenty minutes of Inko technically not yelling at Yagi about the issues, medically and practically, with the training he’d subjected Izuku to.

‘Damn, she’s almost as bad as Chiyo,’ Daigoro said, a sentiment which the other vestiges agreed with.

‘Just be glad she didn’t catch him in the act,’ Izuku thought from his position of safety in the kitchen. ‘Her quirk, Small Object Attraction, works on objects inside of things, and defines a ‘small object’ as anything about 15cm or smaller, which includes a lot of organs.’

‘And she’d use it on a person?’ Nana asked, concerned.

‘She’s apparently done it a few times to keep unruly patients under control, and I wouldn’t put it past her to do something similar to Yagi-sama given,’ he nodded in the direction of the living room.

‘Patients?’ Yoichi asked.

‘Nurse.’

‘Ah.’

“I understand, Midoriya-san,” Yagi said with his head hung low as Ink finished her rant. “I am terribly sorry, I won’t let it happen again.”

“Make sure of it,” Inko said with a nod.

“Though, that is not all that I wished to speak with you about. Did young Midoriya explain why I trained him?”

“To get strong enough to take the UA entrance exam, was there anything else?” She turned her gaze toward the kitchen, and Izuku felt a shiver run down his spine.

“There was another reason,” Yagi said, his tone serious. “One which involves a secret only told to 12 people in the last 80 years. If you can assure me that you will keep it a secret as well, I can make you the 13 th .”

Inko took a moment to realize the seriousness of the information. “I take it Izuku has already been told?”

“It’s most of the reason I never told you. I was told by All Might himself not to tell anyone, so I didn’t.”

“A-All Might!”

The man in question nodded solemnly. “Indeed. It pertains to certain events in his life that we cannot risk becoming common knowledge.”

“A-alright,” Inko said, steeling herself. “What is this secret?”

“The fact that I am All Might,” Yagi said, swelling up to his full size and lifting his shirt to expose his scar, “though not for long.”

Once Inko recovered from the fright of realizing she’d given the number one hero a lecture, he and Izuku told her about One for All and Yagi’s soon to be career ending injury, then listing everyone who knows about this.

“How many of them know about me?” Izuku asked. “I ran into Recovery Girl after the exam today, and it didn’t seem like she knew for sure. She seemed to have suspicions, but nothing concrete.”

“I told her after the exam,” Yagi explained. “I wanted to make sure you actually earned your way into UA without relying on nepotism.”

‘Course he shoulda realized you were gonna ace it the second we started talking to you,’ the third user, who Yoichi had said was named Bruce on the way back, said.

Izuku nodded at that, which for some reason made Inko squint her eyes in confusion and Yagi snap his fingers. 

“That reminds me,” Yagi said. “For reasons that are as of yet unclear, when I gave young Midoriya One for All he also developed the ability to speak to, I’m not quite sure what they are exactly but they appear to be the personalities of the previous users, who have apparently been sharing the senses of every user since they passed it on.”

“They call themselves vestiges,” Izuku explained, “and the quirk was approaching the singularity point is why it happened. They’re pretty sure I’m going to be able to use their birth quirks as well soon. And how did you know I was talking to them anyway?”

“You are not very subtle about listening to them,” Inko explained. “But, um, can they remember everything that’s happened since, however far back?”

“They can remember their whole lives and everything that’s happened to their successors since their deaths, why?”

“There was this one hero from about 40 years ago, and I was wondering if they knew anything about her. Her hero name was Nimbus, and her quirk gave her superstrength and let her fly.”

“Ah, my predecessor was actually Nimbus!” Yagi explained, having already shrunk down to his skeletal form. “She could actually only fly, the strength came from One for All.”

Inko hummed in consideration, something clearly bothering her as she thought. “I grew up in an orphanage, and there were two children who claimed to be her kids. Does she remember them?”

Izuku felt Nana and the other vestiges wince at that, before she started to explain and have Izuku relay everything. “She had to give them up because the villain who would go on to kill her had captured and brutally tortured her husband before murdering him in front of her, then threatened to do the same to her children. She gave them up for adoption as a way to try and protect them. Their names were Shimura Kotaro and—” Izuku faltered, turning to his mother wide eyed. “Shimura Inko. Mom, are you?”

“Yes, my maiden name was Shimura, and my name is Inko. I am Nimbus’ daughter, biologically speaking at least.”

“Biologically? Not all the way?” Izuku asked, the only other person not shocked to stillness by the revelation.

“I mean no offense to Nimbus-san, but as I was put up for adoption as a newborn and she died before my first birthday. After a lifetime of growing up without her, I have difficulty acknowledging her as anything more than my egg donor. I only asked about her because I wanted to know why Kotaro-nisan and I were aban-given up for adoption.”

“W-why am I only finding out about Kotaro-ojisan now?”

Inko let out a deep breath. “That is not a happy story, Izuku. The morning after you were born, your father and I called him to let him know, but the call never went through. The police investigation said that they were caught up in a villain attack. The whole house was turned to dust, along with everyone inside, including Koraro-nisan and his whole family.”

For a moment, Izuku heard Nana scream in agony, her grief strong enough that Izuku all but fell into his chair. Yagi was just fortunate in that he was already sitting, otherwise he’d have fallen to the ground.

“I,” Yagi began, before taking a shaky breath to steady himself. “My condolences. For what it matters. I just want you to know that giving you up was the hardest choice Nana ever made.”

“It’s fine, Kotaro-nisan passed away over a decade ago, and I mean no offense when I say I never really cared for Nana one way or the other.”

Yagi let out a sigh, as he ran his hand down his face. “Very well. Now, uh, if you don’t mind my asking, young Midoriya mentioned that Mr. Midorya has a job overseas in America. I would like to inform him of One for All as well, so I ask that you give me his contact information.”

“Oh of course,” Inko said, pulling out her phone and handing it to Yagi. “This is the phone number he uses.”

Yagi paused for a moment before taking the phone, looking at it with a mix of rage and dread. “I take it the photo on his icon is a picture of him?”

Inko furrowed her brow. “Yes, is something the matter?”

Yagi carefully withheld his rage long enough to gently place the phone on the table, before clenching his fists as tightly as possible. “The villain I mentioned being responsible for my injury? Mr. Midoriya is either his identical twin, or the man in question.”

“What!?” Izuku said, rising to his feet, the voices of the vestiges echoing him in his mind.

“No, no, that couldn’t possibly be,” Inko said, taking her phone back. “Hisashi couldn’t possibly have done it, and his brother was dead before we even met.”

“The vestiges of my predecessors would be able to confirm,” Yagi said with certainty.

Inko looked to Izuku nervously, who looked into the middle distance . ‘Could you do that?’ he thought.

‘If anyone’s able to know if it’s him, it’d be me,’ Yoichi said, his voice cold as steel.

Izuku nodded, and Inko handed him her phone. Before he could even get a good look at it, his head erupted in expletives and calls for violence. Izuku placed two fingers to his temple as he thought ‘I-is that him then?’

‘Yeah, fuck, sorry kid, yeah your dad’s a supervillain.’

‘One who’s not gonna like knowing you’ve got One for All.’

‘And is smart enough to figure it out.’

“Wait, my dad, does he, but you said only a dozen people knew about One for All!”

“I take it they confirmed what I’d said?” Yagi stood as he spoke. “The reason your father knows of One for All goes back to the quirks origin.” 

This dovetailed into a discussion of the origin of One for All and its elder brother, All for One. Of the crimes committed by the self-titled Symbol of Fear. Of the unending war between them. Of the deaths of each of the previous users. Of the mortal peril that would come with him knowing where the quirk’s user was. Of the final battle where All Might was disemboweled moments before he felt All for One’s skull crunch, eyes pop, and brain slip like gelatin between his fingers.

“I’d thought I’d killed him,” Yagi admitted. “But you say you got a call from him recently?”

“I talked to him last week,” Izuku said, a pit opened in his stomach and threatened to suck him through it. “Mom might’ve talked to him since.”

“I haven’t, but either way, Hisashi’s called at least once every month for years, there’s no way he could be this All for One character.” The fear on Inko’s face showed how little she believed that.

“If he calls you that often, how about this; Might Tower has several apartments in it for people with questionably safe homes. You can use one, at least until Hisashi calls next and I can confirm whether or not he’s who I think he is. I swear to you, I will be able to tell from the first time they speak if it’s him or not, and until then I will do everything in my power to ensure you and young Midoriya’s safety.”

“I, I just,” she looked around for a moment, flexing her hands in frustration before turning to her son. “Izuku did you know about this? About being dragged into a war against a supervillain?”

“A supervillain All Might thought was dead before just now,” Izuku replied. “It wasn’t relevant.” He paused for a moment to confirm with the vestiges. “A-and Banjo-san wanted me to say that Yagi-sama had as much a reason to tell me about All for One as you had to tell me about my uncle.”

Inko grimaced for a moment, before hanging her head. “Fine. But I’m calling him tomorrow, I don’t want to risk it. And you’re helping us pack for the trip. Izuku, just get what you’ll need, we’ll be back tomorrow.”

‘No you won’t,’ Yoichi said with certainty.

Chapter Text

Despite everything that had happened to Izuku in the last 48 hours; getting a quirk, talking to ghosts, the entrance exam, introducing All Might to his mother, and finding out his dad was the supervillain to end all supervillains, Izuku was still absolutely flabbergasted at just, everything about his new apartment in Might Towers. 

He’d been to Might Towers a few times as a tourist, what self-respecting hero nerd wouldn’t, even gone around the portions available to the public, but that did not include the top half of the building’s over 80 floors.

In amongst those upper floors was the apartment the Midoriya’s were, according to Inko, only going to be using for a short time. Fortunately, All Might had called some of his support staff and informed them of the situation, sending over a few people with strength quirks to help them pack up. It took them a while to arrive, but once they got there everything but the furniture was packed up in just under an hour. The furniture stayed at Inko’s insistence that they’d be back soon as soon as her husband cleared his name, though everyone but her was certain that was denial on her part, so the movers came back after the Midoriyas left and put everything they left in a storage unit elsewhere in Might Towers, somewhere Izuku knew but Inko did not.

Overwhelmed by it all, Izuku wasn’t surprised to find that the second his head hit the pillow in his new room, he was out like a light.

What he was surprised by was that when he opened his eyes he seemingly didn’t exist below the eyes, just a mass of  mist so black he almost didn’t realize it was green.

Looking around, Izuku saw that he was standing on what appeared to be a roughly triangular wedge of concrete floating in a void of dark nothingness, with the shortest side opposite Izuku having a simple wall on which sat the door to a bank vault.

Sat in the middle of this wedge was the only other distinguishing feature. A collection of eight thrones, each identical save for a roman numeral carved into the top, were arranged into a semi-circle, alternating so that the odds were to one side and evens the other.

And sat upon each throne were the corpses of Izuku’s predecessors.

“Hey kid,” Daigoro said, lifting an arm so broken he had two more elbows than he should, “Nice to meet you in the not-flesh.” The man’s body had been crushed and mangled, bones broken and clothes soaked in still wet blood.

“Wished we’d’ve known it was happening though,” the top half of En, the only part that was present, said. “We would’ve warned you about,” he gestured to the other vestiges with the only arm he had left.

Izuku had no mouth, but that didn’t stop him from trying to scream.

“Oi, kid, take a deep breath, close your eyes, and count to ten,” commanded the second user, a ginger-headed soldier with a snapped neck named Kudo.

Izuku tried to breath, tried to take a breath, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t, he had no nose, he had no mouth he couldn’t breathe he couldn’t breathe he couldn’t bre —

He was smothered in the arms of his grandmother, who’d left her chair at some point and wrapped him in a hug. She pressed what would be his chest into hers, and for a moment he could feel her chest rise and fall as she breathed.

After a moment, he had calmed down and tried to tap her sides to get her to let up.

“Better?” asked the woman who looked almost exactly like his mother had when he was a child, just with the muscles of a bodybuilder and a neck that bent at an almost disturbing angle. Izuku nodded, and she returned to her chair.

“Sorry Izuku, like En said, we weren’t expecting to see you tonight,” Yoichi, or the cloud of viscera that had his voice, said.

“Or ever really,” Bruce said. Izuku made sure to look him in the face, avoiding the gaping hole in his stomach, and noticed that he was much paler than the rest, his features looking more like an American.

‘Makes sense given the name,’ he thought, the words audible to the whole room. ‘Oh, sorry, uh, just, noticed that, err, for want of a better name, Bruce-senpai looked pale.’

“Family name’s Miwa,” there was an edge to Bruce’s voice that put Izuku on edge. “And yeah, I am pale. It’s cause I’m a hafu. Dad was Japanese but moved to the US for work, mom’s family signed the Declaration of Independence. Moved to Japan as a kid cause it was safer for people with meta abilities than America was at the time.”

“Best decision they ever made,” Kudo said with a smile.

The pile of severed limbs that was Hikage rolled his eyes in both ways before speaking. “Really? Right in front of the kid who just had a panic attack?”

“Oh please, that was nothing,” Kudo said. “And it’s not like the kids not gonna realize his uncle’s been part’ve a throuple for the better part of a century eventually.”

‘Wha- a throuple? Huh?’

“You familiar with polyamory at all?” Yoichi asked. When the shadowy form of Izuku nodded, he continued. “Me, Bruce, and Kudo were all married back when we were alive. Kudo had a wife too, but Bruce and I don’t swing that way.”

“So congrats,” Bruce said, his smile malicious. “You got two more uncles than you thought.”

“And it’s the only reason Bruce and I’re still talking to you,” Kudo said. “Seriously, why didn’t you mention explode-bitch to your mom or Eighth?”

‘Kacchan is going to be an amazing hero, I didn’t wanna jeopardize that.’ Before the vestiges could interject, Izuku continued. ‘Plus our moms have been best friends since high school, and given how she’s taking my dad’s reveal I don’t want her to also learn that her honorary nephew was a bully. He wasn’t that bad anyway, not compared to the rest of the school. That was the only time he told me to,’ he swallowed thickly, ‘take a swan dive.’

There was a pause as Kudo clenched his fist over his mouth, clearly enraged as he took a deep breath. “Your school should be very glad that the three of us are dead.”

“I’m just glad Toshi’s not letting him go back there once we confirm my son-in-law,” Nana said, her voice tense.

‘Oh, speaking of, Nana-baasan, are you ok?’

Nana took a deep breath of her own. “I’m glad I can’t have tear tracks anymore, but I should be fine for now. Just, don’t mention your other uncle or what your mother thinks of me.”

Hikage cleared his throat. “Sorry to interrupt, but dream time and real time are not the same. His alarm is going to go off soo—”

Hikage was interrupted by Izuku’s alarm going off and waking him with a start.

Turning the alarm off, Izuku wiped his hand down his face. ‘Any ideas if that was random or am I going to be there again tonight?’ he thought with dread.

‘Imma be honest kid,’ Daigoro said, ‘the only times the current user saw even a glimpse of us was when they got hit with a mental quirk. We’re in uncharted territory.’

‘Yaaaay, so I have no idea if I’m gonna see my family member’s corpses for the rest of my life, wonderful.’

‘Honestly with one exception your family had some of the less gruesome deaths,’ En said.

‘And even then First-senpai is only tied for most gruesome,’ Hikagi said.

With a groan, Izuku shut the vestiges from his mind as he got dressed, only letting them back in once he’d finished and had started looking over his room and out the window. ‘I’m pretty sure this room is bigger than both mine and my mom’s were back at the old place.’

‘Having seen your room but not Inko-chan’s,’ Nana said, ‘I can still say with almost certainty, it is.’

‘Built for large heteromorphs,’ En said.

‘Doesn’t hurt that Eighth ‘s over three meters tall,’ Kudo said

Izuku took a deep breath as he thought about it. ‘I’m going to ask a few questions that I don’t want you all to take the wrong way,’ he thought to his headmates as he looked down at the ant-sized people making up the morning rush. ‘Firstly, I’m pretty sure he hasn’t but he could be hiding them somewhere so I wanna make sure. Does All Might have a family?’

‘If you’re asking if you’re gonna get the whole place once Eighth croaks,’ Daigoro said, ‘that’s entirely fair. I seriously doubt a buncha dead people would be upset with someone making sure their, whatever you and Eighth are to each other get their affairs in order. As for what you’d get, some ‘v it’s already set to go to other people; everyone on staff’s getting a hefty bonus to make up for all but the merch people outta a job. After that, if there’s anything left over, I don’t see why he wouldn’t give it to the runt who’s head he’ll be living in for the first few decades of his afterlife.’

‘Gotta give the taxman his due though,’ En piped up. ‘Inheritence tax is a bitch. And as for the building and everything in it, last I recall he’s just gonna sell it off and donate the proceeds and all the rest of his fortune to charity. Still might give some of it up even with this new info.’

‘Assuming my father doesn’t kill me before then.’ None of the vestiges replied, but Izuku felt their understanding and that they were trying to comfort him.

Izuku was brought out of his introspection about the view by All Might’s voice ringing out from the apartment entryway. 

“I am here! And finally free from my prior engagements!” he said as Inko opened the door for him. Izuku dragged himself out of his room to see the pair making their way in through the living room that rivaled the entirety of the soon to be former Midoriya apartment in size. 

“Midoriya-san and young Midoriya, if you would like, we can go ahead and make the call to Hisashi-san and get this all sorted.”

“Now would be a lovely time,” Inko said. “Izuku, are you ready?”

“Sure mom,” Izuku said, some trepidation in his voice. He noticed the tension in his mother’s brow as she noticed his tone. “It’s nothing, just had a nightmare, and my headmates helped me through it.”

Clearly uncomfortable at thinking about that response, Inko said nothing before tapped the call button on her phone and immediately set it to speaker, gently placing the phone on the countertop as the three of them all stood around it.

The phone rang once, twice, three times before the man on the other end picked up.

“Moshi moshi, Inko is something the matter? It’s only been a week.” Despite his words, Izuku’s father couldn’t keep his smile out of his voice. Before Inko could respond, Yagi took a sharp inhale, one loud enough to be heard over the phone. The man laughed. “Oh? Am I on speaker? May I ask who it is that’s with you?”

“About a year ago,” Izuku quickly interjected, “someone offered to be my personal trainer. I forgot to tell mom about it, sorry about that, but he came over to meet my parents. You weren’t home, so we decided to call you.”

Meanwhile, he just thought ‘Is this him?’

‘Abso-fucking-lutely.’ Yoichi thought through gritted teeth.

The man who claimed to be Midoriya Hizashi, the Supervillain All for One, chuckled darkly. “Interesting. That wouldn’t happen to have anything to do with the fact you moved out of the apartment you’d been living in and are currently in the Northwest corner of Might Tower? On approximately floor 74?”

“How did you know that!?” Yagi shouted before he could think.

“Mwahahah, really All Might? Do you think I wouldn’t keep tabs on my wife and son?”

“Wha- Hisashi, are you really?” Inko began, unable to even say who she thought the man she’d married was.

“I am indeed the supervillain All for One,” he said with a smile. “But now would be an excellent time to let you all know that Midoriya Hisashi was just an alias I used. Would you like to know why I used it?”

“Wild stab in the dark,” Izuku said calmly, “you found the daughter of All Might’s mentor, were about to kill her, but realized her quirk had interesting synergies with All for One. So you pretended to be someone else, seduced my mom, and had me, hoping I’d be able to steal quirks from a distance.”

All for One chuckled once more. “And your first guess is correct! Though I do so wish I could’ve been there to see the look on that star-spangled-ass’ face when he first found out what I’ve done. I’d been planning such a nice reveal about it as well.”

“The reveal I’d like to know is how the hell you survived,” Yagi said, swelling into his muscular form as he did. “I left your head splattered across the pavement, there was no way you should’ve been able to survive!”

“You would be surprised what one can do when they have 2394 quirks,” All for One said with a laugh. “Though I could always use more. Like the one you gave my son yesterday morning.”

Inko gasped at that, tears starting to well up in her eyes, as All for One laughed. “Oh? I’m sorry Inko did you really think I cared about you? Woman we haven’t been in the same room together for the last decade! I’m genuinely a little shocked you never asked for a divorce or found a lover. Not that I would have minded, you were never anything more than a useful science project to me anyway.”

Inko was sobbing at this point, and All Might was by her side in an instant, letting her lean on him to remain standing.

Izuku clenched his fists and jaw as he started to glow. “I am not letting you take One for All,” he said resolutely. “I’d rather have it end with me than risk that.”

“Interestingly enough that’s not the first time someone’s said that to me. Both the smoke machine and hentai monster said something to the same effect, before I cut them in half and dropped a bridge on their head respectively. Though I do wonder where your manners are, no son of mine would treat me with such disrespect.”

“Maybe you should’ve shown up once in the last decade then,” Izuku spat. “Then maybe you’d have more respect. I doubt it though, considering you’ve committed more crimes than days I’ve been alive.”

“I’ve committed more crimes than days I’ve been alive my dear boy,” All for One corrected. “Well, I’m truly sorry to have to end my first verbal spar with my nemesis so soon, but I need to go discipline someone who thought they could fail me. You’d think they’d learn, but this one has failed so many times he’s managed to lose his kneecap privileges! I’ll be seeing you soon, son.”

The three of them stood there, staring at the now silent phone, the Midoriyas both shaking, albeit for very different reasons, and Yagi staring at his successor in shocked disbelief.

‘That was glorious to watch,’ Kudo said in awe. Izuku effectively slammed the door on not just him, but all the vestiges, keeping them out of his head for now.

“I’m gonna go finish setting up my room,” Izuku growled, taking any excuse to not be in that room anymore.

Chapter Text

Nezu took a sip of tea as two of his teachers took a seat on the other side of his desk, forcing his mouth into a smile to get across his good mood.

“Any first years who need debating over whether or not they make the top 36?” Aizawa said, taking care to look at the desk and not at the mammal’s face. Always so logical and to the point, and so good about not making Nezu fight his instincts by looking the mammal in the eyes. There was a reason he was the principal's favorite human. Though his position might soon be in jeopardy, if All Might’s chosen successor’s scores were anything to go by.

“You didn’t look at them?” Kan asked, his brows furrowed in confusion.

“Anti-nepotism policy,” Nezu explained, pulling a stack of folders out from his desk. “And no, the top 36 were fairly easy to grade this year. Though, that is not to say that there have not been any applicants that lead to concerning observations.”

Aizawa let out a tired sigh. “Do I even want to know?”

“One of the applicants, a boy named Midoriya Izuku, was responsible for the first ever destruction of a 0-point robot, and managed to not only earn full marks for the written portion, but also earn 49 villain points and 70 rescue, earning him an overall score of 119. He likely would have scored even more rescue points had we not started adjusting his score to keep it somewhat reasonable, and even then he still earned nearly twice as many rescue points as the one who earned 2nd most.”

The bloody teacher let out a whistle of appreciation, whilst his sleep deprived coworker’s eyes opened wider than Nezu had ever seen them. The mammal allowed his smile to grow wider, and more genuine. 

“This is quite remarkable, as according to his file at his current, or rather former, school he is a troublemaker constantly picking fights with his classmates and antagonizing them, all whilst scoring on the poorer end of average academically. Naturally, I investigated how this could be. During this, I discovered a vulnerability in their computer systems that would allow me to access a complete record of the school’s cameras within the last year, and I could not stop myself from smiling at what I found.”

The principle took another sip of tea before continuing. “Kan-san, I know I have told Aizawa-san this, but I do not recall if you have been informed; humans and your canine companions are the only animals which smile to show that they are happy. In most other species, myself included, the closest we naturally come to smiling is when baring our teeth at something or someone which has earned our severe ire. And so when I tell you that I cannot recall a time I smiled as wide as I had whilst watching those recordings, I hope you understand why I shall not rest until every single so-called educator to ever set foot in Aldera middle school has been blacklisted from every position where they could even potentially come across an adolescent human.”

Aizawa let out a breath. “How bad?”

“Amongst the 36 students to have earned their position in the hero course, both of the top two scorers come from Aldera. Midoriya was never referred to by name and instead only ever called useless, and the other, one Bakugo Katsuki, has used his quirk to commit assault so many times that by my count he should by all rights be no less than an A rank villain. Despite the two being placed in the same class, with predictable results might I add, the so-called teachers never once intervened to stop the abuse, reprimanded Bakugo-kun or any of his classmates for blatant illegal quirk use, or do anything to defend Midoriya-kun. In fact, I have counted no less than a dozen instances in the last calendar year alone in which they seemingly knowingly instigated the bullying or otherwise presented the prime opportunity for the student to be abused.”

“Of course I did more digging after this, and found that this is sadly merely the continuation of a trend from their prior schools. Not once in the last decade has Bakugo-kun been reprimanded for his actions, instead often told that he was destined to be a great hero, one who would surpass All Might one day. To that end, I do not want to risk the boy going rogue should he not be admitted into UA. Instead, he will have mandatory sessions with Inui-san, will be entering on probation, and I will personally be going to explain why both of these actions are necessary to him and his parents. I would like his homeroom teacher to accompany me however, as the boy sweats explosives that he can detonate at will.”

Kan let out a heavy sigh as Aizawa rubbed his eyes. “I hate how logical everything you're saying is, I can’t find any fault with it. I know we try to keep kids who went to the same school together, but if you don’t separate those two, I’m turning in my two weeks notice.”

“Oh absolutely, though who gets who I will allow you to decide. I should note that the reason for the bullying was that the top scorer was initially believed to have a very weak quirk.”

“Kan you want the walking bomb?” Aizawa said, no doubt thinking back to how his own son was treated before his adoption. “I’m already having difficulty maintaining professional detachment from the little—” he stopped himself and clenched his fist.

“That’s fine by me. Can we get back to deciding the rest of the classes then?”

“Indeed. Firstly, I would like Bakugo Katsuki to be in the same class as our 3rd place scorer, Kirishima Eijiro, as the boy is one of only two individuals who could endure the former’s explosions without injury, and he has both a strong dislike of bullies and a very positive personality that I hope would assist in Bakugo-kun’s reform. He is also apparently close friends with one Ashido Mina, so the pair are a package set. To counterbalance this, Tetsutetsu Testutestu has an alarmingly similar quirk to Kirishima-kun, and so I will not be allowing them in the same class. Finally, I would also like to keep the gender distribution somewhat even, and as only 11 women passed, deciding where to put them seems like a nice place to start. Does that sound acceptable to the two of you?”

“Sure why not,” Aizawa said, wanting a nap.

——————————

Izuku looked at the door, dread keeping him rooted to the floor.

‘Come on kid, it’s just a door, it’s not gonna bite ya,’ Daigoro said encouragingly.

‘And even if it did, your mom just got a new job as Shuzenji-chan’s assistant,’ Hikage pointed out.

‘It is a really big door though,’ En thought as aloud as a ghost could. ‘Isn’t the principal of this place a tree shrew? ’

‘His species is unconfirmed,’ Izuku mentally muttered, ‘butthelargestspeciesoftreeshrewtheappropriatelynamedlargetreeshrewscientificnameTupaiatanaonlyhasabodylengthofalittleover32cmatmostwhereprincipleNezuhasbeenconfirmedtobe85cmtallWhilehehasalsosaidtobeachimeraofseveraldifferentspeciesasaresultoftheexperimentsperformedonhimIfeelsafeinassuminghisbasespecieswasmostlikelyclosertohiscurrentsize.’

‘Did anyone catch any of that?’ Kudo deadpanned.

‘He’s over twice the size of the largest tree shrew,’ Nana answered. ‘Probably not one of them then.’

Daigoro scoffed. ‘Of course you’d be the one to get it.’

Izuku let out a deep breath. ‘I just hope Kacchan and the strict boy from the entrance exam are in 1-B,’ he thought as he opened the door.

Izuku was one of the last students to arrive. A few of the desks were still empty, but seemingly because the students they belonged to were still standing around talking. There was a floating girl’s uniform standing next to a boy with a black lightning shaped streak through his blonde hair, no doubt pretending to pay attention as a girl with long thorny vines for hair and the strict boy lectured them to go back to their seats, the boy apparently ignoring the fact that he was likewise out of his seat.

‘One outta two ain’t too bad,’ Daigoro said, his condolences radiating through Izuku’s mind. ‘At least it’s the nicer of the two. He shouldn’t tell ya ta swan dive.’

‘And if he does,’ Bruce said, his voice sold as ice and hard as stone, ‘tell Eighth. Immediately. This fuckwit doesn’t have the excuse Explodo-bitch does, got it?’

‘ Yes uncle Bruce, ’ Izuku thought.

He began to make his way to his desk when the door opened behind him, through which came the brown-haired girl Izuku had met during the entrance exam. “Oh nice! I’m so glad to see we’re in the same class!”

“Nice to see you too, I’m glad you got in!”

“Yeah, but only because I got so many rescue points. I’m so glad they added those!”

“Heh, yeah, almost two thirds of my points were rescue.”

“I’m not surprised, given you wrecked that 0-pointer to save me. Honestly, they should’ve given you more points.”

“Hehe, yeah,” Izuku said, his face flushing red as he rubbed the back of his head

“I am very sorry,” said the strict boy, approaching the pair, “but did you say that you were the one who destroyed the 0-pointer?”

“One of those got wrecked?” the invisible girl asked in awe.

“Indeed mademoiselle,” a sparkling European boy said in awe. “The one in Ground Gamma was struck by incredible force, enough to crush its face like a tin can!”

“Uhm, I am terribly sorry, but I was fortunate enough to get in through recommendations,” a beautiful girl with a ponytail said. “Might I please ask what you mean by a 0-pointer?”

“A giant fuck off robot the size of a skyscraper,” said the dwarf sat in front of her. “They were an obstacle in the entrance exam us normies had to take.”

Izuku laughed nervously as his whole face turned red as a tomato. “I, it wasn’t that much, I uh, kinda used too much power against it and broke my limbs.”

“Still, to be capable of so much,” the strict boy shook his head as he frowned. “My name is Ilda Tenya, and I am terribly sorry for how I berated you prior to the practical portion. You not only discovered the existence of the rescue points, something which I did not, but also wished to speak to your friend, something I prevented. I am so sorry for my actions that day!”

“I-it’s alright,” Izuku said, throwing up his hands in defense, “I-I didn’t know about the rescue points either, I just saved people from the robots while focusing the 3-pointers!”

“And yet you still managed to earn twice as many rescue as villain points? I must admit, I am in awe.”

‘So he’s not an irredeemable asshat,’ Yoichi said. ‘So glad he’s here instead of the pomeranian.’

“If you’re trying to make friends, do it somewhere else,” said a voice just outside the still open door, belonging to a disheveled looking man in a large yellow sleeping bag that reminded Izuku of a worm. Not helped by him crawling into the classroom like an inchworm as the students that were still standing about took their seats. He came to a stop beside the podium, standing up and sucking a juice pack dry before finally unzipping the bag and stepping out, revealing his all black outfit somehow more disheveled than the man himself.

“It took you 8 seconds to quiet down and get to your seats after I made my entrance,” the man said. “We’ll have to work on that. I’m your homeroom teacher and one of your heroics teachers, Aizawa Shota.” Izuku felt dread well up in his stomach at that, remembering the name from something his mom had told him after she started working at UA. Ignoring, or more likely not noticing, Izuku’s sudden bout of terror, Aizawa continued. “Follow me to the locker rooms, everyone get changed into your gym uniforms. When you’re done, we’re heading to the PE grounds.”

Izuku no doubt failed to keep his anxiety under check as he got changed, though if any of his classmates said anything to him he didn’t notice, only listening to his headmates as they tried and failed to calm him down. It wasn’t until the brown haired girl put her hand on his shoulder and gently squeezed that his anxiety started to ebb.

“You ok Midoriya-kun?” she asked.

“Yeah, sorry, just—” before he could continue, Aizawa called for them all to line up and pay attention.

“Up until now, you haven’t been allowed to use your quirks during physical tests,” he explained. “That changes now. Midoriya, come stand in this circle.” Izuku did so and quickly caught a ball Aizawa tossed to him. “How far could you throw a ball in middle-school?”

“About 40 meters, sir.”

“Now do it again, this time using your quirk. Do anything you want, just stay in the circle.”

Izuku nodded and began to glow, his whole body arching with green energy as he allowed 2% of One for All to cover his whole body. ‘Thanks for helping me with One for All’ he thought to his headmates before releasing the throw, sending the ball launching forward with a thunderous bang.

“Before anything else, you need to know what you’re capable of,” Aizawa said, turning his phone around to show the class a readout of 705.3 meters. “These exercises will serve as a rational way to form your foundation.”

“We can really use our quirks now? This’ll be so fun!” cried one of the girls in class, as the rest of the class started to celebrate.

“Fun you say?” Aizawa said, sending a shiver down Izuku’s spine. “So you’re planning to spend your three years having a good time? Alright, here’s a fun rule I hadn’t explained yet. When this is done, I’ll rank you based on how well you did, and whoever comes in last will be judged as worthless, and will be expelled immediately.”

The class paled, feeling numb from anxiety. Izuku vaguely heard one of the students complain about it being unfair, prompting Aizawa to go on a speech about how the world wasn’t fair and how he was preparing them to be heroes in the real world. He wasn’t really paying attention, instead focusing on the vestiges.

‘ Not every quirk would be useful for this test, ’ Hikage grumbled.

‘ Even some really useful ones, ’ En sniped. ‘Smokescreen, Danger Sense, hell Endeavour’s Hellflame would be shit for most of these, and he still managed to get to top 2!’

‘Actually,’ Yoichi said, deep in thought, ‘this guy’s Eraserhead, right? His quirk shuts off other quirks, but it wouldn’t do anything for this exam.’

That sent Izuku’s mind whirling faster than the vestiges could keep up with, before his anxiety drained from him and he smiled. “Uh, sensei, I have a question about this exercise.”

“Hmm? What is it?”

“Are we allowed to use our quirks when it’s not our turn to go? To warm up?”

“Of course.”

“What happens if we, completely on accident, hit our classmates with our quirks during their turn? Would we be penalized at all?”

Aizawa’s smile was a disturbing sight. “So long as I don’t need to send anyone to the infirmary, no.”

“And if because of our warm-ups, someone does worse then they perhaps would have otherwise, would they use that score, or would they get a second try?”

“Why are you asking this Midoriya-kun!” called Ilda. “Of course the unfortunate victim would be able to—”

“So long as I don’t think they did better then they should’ve,” Aizawa interrupted, “and as long as they aren’t being hit by the whole class’ ‘misfired’ quirks, then yes, they would have to take the score, even if they swear up and down it was because you made a loud noise to startle them or something. Why do you ask?”

“Well, Eraserhead-sensei, I know your quirk wouldn’t be able to do anything for this test, and I didn’t think you’d risk making a test that you couldn’t pass yourself, so I knew there must be some trick to it. And since your quirk doesn’t do anything unless used on another person, I figured we might be allowed to do the same. Not like I’m going to need the help of course,” he turned to look at the rest of the class. “I beat the record for highest score for the entrance exam and my quirk is ideal for this test; unless the whole class ganged up on me, there’s no way I’d come in last, and only last place is getting expelled. I don’t really need to bother interfering to get in the top half of the class, if not more. The same could probably be said for the recommendation students and anyone with a more physically inclined quirk.”

Aizawa looked genuinely surprised at that. “Firstly, how’d you know I was Eraserhead and what my quirk was? Secondly, why’d you just spill the secret to the whole class if you aren’t going to make use of it?”

“The answer to the second question is that just because the world is unfair doesn’t mean I’m not here to help fix that,” Izuku said, before shrugging on his anxiety. “But uh, the reason I knew it was you is because my mom recently got a job working as Recovery Girl’s assistant, and she’s heard about you and how you expelled the entirety of what would be class 2-A in less than a month. I already knew about your quirk and hero name because I’m kind of a hero fanboy, but I didn’t know your real name or what you looked like until she told me.”

“You’re Shimura-san’s son?”

“She recently got a divorce and went back to using her maiden name. I kept my sperm donor’s name. I don’t know if I can say anymore, so if you have questions ask All Might, he’s the one dealing with the case.”

Aizawa raised his brows in surprise at that, but moved on. “Alright. We’re going in order of who scored the most in the entrance exam with the recommended students going last. Uraraka, you’re next.”

Startled, Ochako made her way forward before lightly tossing the ball. Izuku smiled as of his classmates either winced in sympathy, were jubilant that one of the biggest threats was apparently trying to fail, or looks of frustration at the same display. These faces quickly shifted when, instead of dropping after barely more than a meter, the ball just kept going. And going. And going. Ochako turned to Aizawa. “Uh, I take away something’s gravity and can lift three tons at most, when that ball doesn’t weigh half a kilo. If I wanted I could keep it up until it escapes the galaxy.”

“Drop the ball, I’ll mark you down as twice whoever scores the most for this event. On the off chance you get any other infinities, I’ll do the same, got it?”

Ochako nodded as she brought her hands together. The ball fell as she made her way back to standing by Izuku with a smile on her face.

‘How much you wanna bet she doubles your scores every time she goes infinite?’ Daigoro jokingly asked.

As the exercise went on, he never mentioned it out of fear that Eraserhead would expel him on the spot, but Izuku was enjoying himself quite a bit. He’d gotten to see so many of his classmate’s quirks in action, as well as some creative uses for it, such as the female recommendation student, Yaoyorozu was her name, making an actual cannon for the ball toss or the Frenchman using the recoil on his laser for the standing long jump. The interference from the other students was possibly even more interesting, like the girl with aux cords dangling from her ears plugging them into the ground to spook away the animals the boy with the rock-like head called over or the invisible girl standing in the way of the ball haired dwarf boy as he bounced down the 50 meter dash.

Unfortunately that incident ended with him knocking her over and his head landing between her thighs. Her naked thighs. He said something that was muffled by her thighs before she let out a shriek, quickly scrambling back and kicking him repeatedly in the face shouting “He licked me! He licked me! He fucking licked me!”

In an instant, Aizawa’s hair was standing on end, his eyes glowing red as he wrapped the dwarf up in his capture weapon. He pulled the boy closer to him as the invisible girl scrambled to her feet and got away, the girls following the floating dirt to surround and comfort her.

“Mineta Minoru,” Aizawa said, his voice frozen steel. “I am going to text the principal what you have done, then I will release you from my capture weapon. Once you are free, you are to make your way to the principal's office. He will keep watch of you via the security cameras. When you get there, he will inform you of your punishment. If you make a single detour, you will be expelled immediately. Do I make myself clear?” The boy nodded as fiercely as the scarf around his neck would allow him.

“Sensei, I’m almost certainly in first place, if you want I can take him there.” Izuku said, his tone just as serious as the hero’s, but his voice an octave lower than anyone in the room had heard before.

‘The fuck?’ Bruce said in shock.

‘The hell’s going on with your voice?’ Kudo asked, as horrified as any of the students.

Before Izuku could respond to his uncle, Aizawa responded to him. “I’m not going to stop the exam for you.”

“I’m doing much better than he is, and he’d be missing more events than me. I don’t think you’re counting this as a completed dash, are you?”

“He never finished it, so no I’m not. Go ahead.”

As soon as Mineta was released from Aizawa’s scarf, Izuku grabbed him by the back of his collar, his arm glowing green, and half led half dragged the shorter boy to the principal's office, never once saying a word as Mineta tried to plead his case. The door opened automatically when the pair arrived, likely because the principal had attached a mechanism for this and was keeping them under watch. Izuku almost threw the boy into the room before saying “He’s the perv, I’m going back to class,” and turning around to do exactly that.

On his way back, he finally responded to his uncles’ questions. ‘Everyone else was shocked by the voice change, someone’s going to ask, I don’t wanna repeat myself.’ Understanding bloomed from the predecessors, though tinged with frustration from the second and third.

Once Izuku returned, he noticed the rest of class lightly jogging around a track. “Midoriya!” Aizawa called. “You didn’t miss any events. They’re doing long distance running. Go too slow and I’ll end you early. I’m the starting line. Get going.”

Izuku nodded and did as instructed. Shortly after, he noticed the boy with tape coming out of his elbows try and trip the invisible girl with his quirk. Izuku grabbed the tape before it had the chance and threw it back in the boy’s face. “Leave her alone for at least this task, understand?” he said, his voice back to its normal pitch but no less threatening. The other boy nodded fearfully but kept going.

Several minutes later, only Ilda, Izuku, and Yaoyorozu were left, the first lightly jogging while sipping from a water bottle filled with orange juice, the third riding an electric scooter. The three had been running alone for several laps when Aizawa finally called out to them to stop and come to him.

“This is taking too long, about how much longer do you all think you could go?”

“My quirk requires juice to function,” Ilda said, lightly shaking the bottle in his hand. “The remainder of this bottle would be enough to last me approximately 8 hours before I’d be unable to use my quirk. My personal best distance without a quirk and without having to walk is over 8 kilometers, though I do not believe I could make that full distance after all this exercise.”

“I am unable to make batteries at this time,” Yayorozu said, “so the scooter is solar powered. Once night fell I would have to use my legs to kick off. I’ve never run a 5k before, so I don’t think I’d be able to do it without a scooter, but with one I should be able to do it, if not go far farther.”

“Uh, my quirk requires a certain level of muscle mass that I didn’t have until the entrance exam in order to work,” Izuku began, scratching the back of his head nervously as he did. “My body’s still adjusting so I can only use about 2% of my full quirk without breaking my body, but my quirk also enhances my stamina so,” he gave a wincing smile, “I um, haven’t actually been getting tired? Like, almost at all?”

The rest of class gasped in shock as their teacher took a deep breath. “Midoriya if you want additional guidance on how to use your quirk I’m willing to stay after school to help. In the meantime, I’m marking you as infinite and giving you twice the 2nd place finisher’s distance, which happens to be Ilda. Sunset is less than 8 hours from now, and he was already leading Yaoyorozu by a good distance.”

The trio rejoined the rest of their classmates as they started the final two exercises, with Mineta never rejoining them during this. At the end, their scores were calculated and put up on a large screen for the whole class to see.

1. Yaoyorozu Momo
2. Midoriya Izuku
3. Todoroki Shoto
4. Ilda Tenya
5. Shiozaki Ibara
6. Shoji Mezo
7. Ojiro Mashirao
8. Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu
9. Uraraka Ochako
10. Tokoyami Fumikage
11. Sato Rikido
12. Tsuyu Asui
13. Aoyama Yuga
14. Sero Hanta
15. Koda Koji
16. Shoda Nirengeki
17. Kaminari Denki
18. Jiro Kyoka
19. Hagakure Toru

“You will notice,” Aizawa said as the ranking came out, “that there are only 19 people on this list, and that you started class today with 20 students in your class. This is because Mineta Minoru has been expelled. With this in mind, and because of how creatively you all used your quirks today, no one will be getting expelled.” The invisible girl fell to her knees with relief. “Additionally, Ms. Hagakure, please note that his actions towards you during class today were illegal, and he has thusly been taken into custody. If you would like to press charges, we can take it to court. You may be asked to answer some questions but you won’t have to do anything else.”

“Yes I wanna press charges! Are you insane!?” she cried.

Aizawa nodded, silencing Ilda’s objections before they left his throat. “In that case, everyone get changed, we’re done for today.”

The locker room door hadn’t even finished closing by the time Kaminari almost shouted at Izuku “Hey, Midoirya, what was up with your voice when Mineta did that?”

“Before I answer that,” Izuku said, slightly louder than normal, “Jiro you mentioned that you have really good hearing, and that you could project anything you hear into a speaker you plug yourself into, right? I don’t want to repeat myself so I’m only saying this once. Slam a locker door when you’re set up.” A moment later there was a bang from the girl’s locker room as someone slammed a door. “Before the entrance exam I couldn’t use my quirk, so everyone thought I was quirkless. About 5 years ago, a paper was published about how often quirkless kids were bullied. A lot of us, of them , don’t live to see graduation. My bullies found the paper, and it uh, it didn’t go well for me. Around the same time I hit puberty and my voice dropped, and I was the first to do it in my year, giving my bullies another thing to make fun of me for. Trauma is fun, I only use my normal voice when I’m incredibly pissed or when I really focus on it. Yes I recently started seeing a therapist about it, no I don’t wanna talk about it.”

‘Don’t wanna think about it either,’ Izuku thought at his headmates.

“That is all, Jiro unplug your ears please.”

There was a loud bang from the other side of the wall to confirm it was done, and the boys finished getting changed. As Izuku made his way toward the gate, he was momentarily terrified to hear a number of people walking quickly toward him. In a flash, he turned to see who his attackers were.

“Hey Midoriya-kun, wait up!” Uraraka said, followed by Ilda and interestingly enough Todoroki as well.

“Indeed, you were so quick to change we were unable to follow after you. I wished to commend you for your actions during class today, as well as praise you for doing so well with a quirk you have so little experience with!”

Izuku chuckled nervously. “I mean, it’s mostly just a physical ability quirk, and I’ve spent the last year being trained by an actual pro hero, so it’s not like I’m starting with nothing.”

“Really? What hero’s your trainer?” Todoroki asked.

“Uhhhh” Izuku scratched his cheek, looking down and wincing. “It was mostly his secretary since he’s really busy, but uh, All Might?”

The whole group, save Todoroki, were shocked, Ochako even taking a step back in awe. “H-how? How the hell did you manage that!?”

“You remember what I said about my mom’s divorce?”

“That you can’t talk about the reason so if we want details we need to ask All Might himself?”

“Yeah. It’s related to that.”

“Though given how you refer to your father I feel it is safe to assume that he has something to do with it?”

“I can’t answer that.”

“That’s a yes.” Todoroki replied.

“Guys, let him off a bit, ok?” Uraraka said, stepping in front of the other two boys. “If he says he can’t talk about a thing, he can’t talk about it.”

“Thanks Uraraka-chan,” Izuku said with a sigh. “But I was heading to the station, are you coming?”

“Yeah, let’s go!” Uraraka said, walking alongside him, unaware of the ghosts snickering inside her new friend’s head, teasing him for his reaction to a pretty girl being nice to him.

Chapter Text

The next day at UA was their first full day, as well as the first one where they’d meet their actual teachers. Izuku found it genuinely quite impressive how normal the classes were, even accounting for the fact the teachers were all pro heroes.

‘It’s still a school, they still gotta teach you the basic shit,’ Daigoro said in response to that thought.

‘At least you’ve got it easy,’ Bruce said. ‘Having an American and several ghosts from the dark age means you could fall asleep during English and History and still walk out with top scores.’

‘Not that he’s going to try that,’ Nana said sternly as he walked back from the cafeteria and into room 1-A.

“Hello Midoriya-kun,” Yaoyorozu said, speaking over the now empty desk between them as he took his seat. “I was just examining the schedule and I noticed that we have Foundational Heroics next. Unlike our other classes however, it doesn’t mention who our teacher will be. Since your mother works here, I was wondering if you had any idea?”

“Oh sorry I can’t say for certain, butitsprobablyarecenthirewhotheydidnthavetimetoaddtothescheduleItsalsomostlikelyaUAgraduatesinceitseemstherestoftheteachersareGiventhatbeingateacherwouldmeanlesstimeoutonthefielditwouldhavetobeonewhoiseitherolderandpreparingforretirementorsomeonewhorecentlyhadsomethinghappenintheircivilianlifethatwouldmakethemwanttotakesometimeoffOffthetopofmyheadthislistwouldbeMisterBlasterHisPurpleHighnessMajesticEnigmaToytoyandTakeshitaItmightalsobetheSkycrawlersincePopstepreceintlyannouncedshewaspregnantandhesconfirmedtobeafriendofPresentMicandMidnightbutIdontknowthemwellenoughtosay.”

‘You’re muttering,’ En interrupted, making Izuku stop.

Before Izuku could apologize, Yaoyorozu spoke up. “I saw Skycrawler stop a purse-snatching on the way to school this morning, so I am doubtful that it’s him. Additionally, my parents have occasionally hired Mister Blaster to guard events where he will sometimes make mention of some amount of animosity he holds for Present Mic and Eraserhead, so I do not believe he’d be willing to work alongside Yamada-sensei and Aizawa-sensei.”

Izuku just looked at her wide eyed for a moment, stunned. “You understood my muttering?”

“My elder brother has a thought speed enhancement quirk,” she explained plainly. “I’m used to having to parse what he says when he gets worked up about something.”

Izuku was about to respond when the door swung open. “I am here, coming through the door like a normal person!” All Might said, doing the exact opposite of that.

“What!? All Might is our teacher?!” cried one of Izuku’s classmates.

“Indeed! I see introductions are unnecessary for some of you, but for those of you who haven’t heard, I am indeed All Might, and I’d like to welcome, all of you, to your first day of Foundation Heroics! But right now, you don’t exactly look the part, at least not yet.” He pulled out a remote and clicked a button, revealing compartments built into the wall housing briefcases numbered 1-20, skipping 19. “When you received your acceptance letters, you were given a form for what you wanted your hero costumes to look like, so I hope you can guess what you can find in the case with your student number on it! Please take your case and head to Ground Beta, because today we will be doing Battle Trials!”

They quickly made their way to the changing room attached to Ground Beta and started getting changed. From the second he opened his case, Izuku couldn’t stop the goofy grin from appearing on his face.

‘Aren’t you glad we talked you into actually putting some thought into it?’ Yoichi snarked.

‘Hey I designed that old suit when I was 5 years old and quirkless.’

‘And now you’re 15 and have one quirk with 6 more on the way,’ Higake said. ‘Now you won’t need a new costume the second you get one of them.’

‘Excuse you, most of our quirks don’t really need adjustments,’ Nana said. ‘It’s really only Smokescreen and Blackwhip that do.’

‘Though now that his mask isn’t just to look like a smile but is an actual gas mask,’ En said, ‘Blackwhips really the only one that’ll require a redesign.’

‘The functioning gas mask and the small gaps,’ Izuku corrected. ‘But yes, I’ll need to have holes put in my gloves when I get Blackwhip. Though how that’s going to work now that they’re compression sleeves, I’m not sure.’

‘You shouldn’t really need it,’ Bruce said, ‘since like I said, you’re best off focusing on your legs, even before you get Fa Jin now that you’ve got those hunks of steel strapped to your feet.’

‘It’ll also keep your face out of the fight,’ Higake pointed out. ‘I’m still skeptical about keeping what basically amounts to a supped up cellphone strapped to your face. If you need one you could always just put it in your utility belt.’

‘Ah don’t listen to Ted Kaczynski over there, thermal and night vision are cool and I could not tell you the number of times I’ve wanted something like it back when I was a hero.’ Daigoro said. ‘‘sides, your visor’s bullet proof, you’re fine.’

‘It’s fine,’ Izuku thought as he pulled up his hood, complete with intentionally goofy looking rabbit ears, ‘not the first time he’s tried to subtly convince me to be a luddite.’

As the vestiges laughed, Izuku stepped out into Ground Beta, and quickly noticed that most of his classmates had already finished changing and come out, including all of the girls.

A tenth of a second later, he slammed the connection between him and the vestiges shut.

‘Holy fuck I don’t know which is worse, Uraraka-chan wearing yoga pants or Yaoyorozu-chan’s costume being little more than lingerie.’

Uraraka noticed his reaction and was about to say something when All Might arrived and started explaining the day’s exercise.

“Today we will be having a battle trial! You will each be divided up into teams! Initially I had wanted to do ten teams of two, but as the class now has an odd number, it shall be five teams of three, and one team of four. One team, the villains, will be given 10 minutes to place a large fake bomb in a building and to set up defenses, afterwards the other team, the heroes, will come in and try and place at least one hand on the fake bomb within 20 minutes! The reason for the time difference is that the villain team will fight the hero team, with an alternate win condition being to capture each member of the opposing team before the timer runs out. If you have at least one layer of this tape,” he held up a roll of pure white tape to demonstrate, “completely encircling your torso, you will be considered captured. You may try to capture your opponents in other ways, but I will decide if it counts.”

“Now, as for the teams!” he continued. “Everyone, please pull a slip of paper from this box!”

Izuku pulled out his paper then joined his team, thinking a quiet swear as he saw that not only was he going up against team C, the one with four people in it, but also who was on team F with him.

‘Blocked us out for a bit there, what brought that out?’ Nana asked as Izuku barely stopped himself from leaping to the roof of the nearest building. He instead just looked at his team, looked at his opponents, and briefly explained the situation. ‘Ah, yeah, seeing your crush wearing that would definitely do it. Also, holy hell that Yaoyorozu girl’s costume is shit. Heels? Seriously?’

‘I don’t have a crush on Uraraka-chan, what are you talking about?!’

‘Kid, you know how you can sense our emotions?’ Kudo deadpanned. ‘That trick goes both ways. Don’t fucking bother trying to lie to us.’

Izuku was very glad his mask obscured most of his face, keeping Ochako from noticing how much his face resembled a strawberry as she approached him with a smile. “So Midoriya-kun, Yaoyorozu-san,” she said, “it looks like we’re on the same team. Bad luck about our opponents though.”

“Quite,” Yaoyorozu agreed, “though at least we are on the defense and are being given prep time.”

“Especially since your quirks are best suited for this,” Izuku thought aloud, resting his fist against his mask. “Yaoyorozu-san, your quirk lets you make things from your body, but how does it work exactly?”

“It transforms the fat stores of my body into whatever I’d like, though I need to completely understand the object’s structure, so sadly I cannot make organic materials or anything more complex than the scooter I made yesterday. I can make plastic and rubber however, if they are needed.”

“Given the fact that we’re up against Kaminari-kun, the rubber could be very useful. Can you make other states of matter beyond solids, and how much of your quirk are you comfortable using for this?”

“I can make liquids, could theoretically make a gas if I knew any useful ones, and would really rather avoid making more than 20 kilograms of mass. Does this give you a plan?”

“YesitdoesIwasthinkingwemakeafakebombandputitsomewhereonthe3rdfloorthatJirochanwillhearitsowecandirectthemallthereInthisroomweclearoutasmuchdebrisaspossibleandfillitwithasmuchwaterasyoucanmanagemakingitdifficultforbothIldakunandKaminarikuntousetheirquirkstheremakingJirochanandShodakuntheonlyoneswhocanfightagainstuseffectivelyexceptShodakunwonthaveanythinghecanthrowatusthathedoesntalreadyhaveonhispersonwhichshouldntbeverymuchgivenhiscostumemuchlessthatwouldactuallybeabletocauseanynotabledamageBeforetheygettherethoughtheyllneedtogetthroughmeiftheygothroughthe1stfloorandthroughUrarakachaniftheystartfromthetopandworktheirwaydownWeshouldalsosetupsomewaytomakesuretheydontusethefireescapemaybeactuallynowhileyoutwoaresettingallthisupIcanrunoverandtearthemdownButtherealoneshouldbelocatedwithUrakrachanuponthetopfloorswithherremovingitsgravityassoonaspossiblebeforetakingitupOncetheotherteamcomesinshecangototheroofandletitgoAtnopointduringtheexplanationdidAllMightsenseisaythebombhadtostayinthebuildingandgiventhesheersizeofthisthingifitwererealitdstilllikelytakeoutthewholebuildingwhenitwentoff.”

“Did you get any of that?” a somewhat dazed Ochako asked Yaoyorozu.

“I did and it was actually quite a good plan, I agree we should do it.”

——————————

“Alright team A,” All Might said over the coms he’d given each of the students, “that’s the end of your prep time! Team D, your time starts now!”

“No one move,” Jiro said, “I’m gonna listen in, try and see what that bang was a few minutes ago.” 

Carefully, she plugged one of her ear jacks into the wall, listening for a moment. “I’m not picking up on anything big that fell over, but they’re keeping the bomb on the 3rd floor, and they’ve flooded the room with several centimeters of water.”

“Oof, sorry but I’m not going in there,” Kaminari said, tugging on the collar of his jacket. “I can’t fight for shit without my lightning, and I don’t wanna shock ya’ll on accident.”

“Likewise I fear it best if I stay out as well,” Ilda said with a chop. “Slipping when one runs at 50 kilometers per hour is a recipe for broken bones.”

“So that just leaves you and me to take on the bomb and anyone guarding it,” Shoda said with a sigh.

“Sounds like there’s only one guard though, so the two of us should be able to handle it,” Jiro continued. “They’re wearing high heels that are fairly normal sized for shoes, and Uraraka-chan’s boots are really puffy, so I think it’s Yaoyorozu-chan. The other girl is pacing around up on the top floor near the stairs to the roof, and Midoriya’s patrolling the ground floor.”

“Yeah I’m not fighting him if I can help it!” Kaminari said, waving his hands in fear. “Is there any other way up?”

“Unless one of you can fly or build a ramp for Ilda-san to run up, the only way I can think of is the fire escape,” Shoda said. “Assuming they put that into this mockup, it should be around back.”

“Around where we heard the loud bang coming from?” Kaminari asked, anxiety in his tone.

“Shit,” Jiro said under her breath as she unplugged herself. “It might not’ve been that though, so we should still check.”

“Give me one moment, I will run and do so,” Ilda said before doing just that and returning a moment later. “I am sad to say that yes, the banging sound we heard was in fact the fire escape falling. I would comment on how heroes should avoid property damage, but as they are playing the part of villains for this exercise, I will only say that it seems a waste of the school’s resources to rip it off the side of the building.”

“You’ll get the chance to tell the person who probably did it exactly how you feel once we head inside,” Shoda said. “I don’t see Gravity girl being able to do that on short notice, and the 3D printer was already busy making the water. Ilda-kun, you’re wearing armor and are probably our best melee fighter, you lead.”

With a nod, Ilda went in, his team following behind. They were careful with their walking, Jiro’s ear jacks tapping against the wall to keep them updated on the current floor, if not the rest. Despite that, when Izuku kicked a hole in the wall and immediately started running at them, they were caught off guard. Instantly, there was a flash of green light and Shoda was being dragged away by the collar of his shirt as fast as Izuku could carry him, Ilda chasing after.

Izuku quickly made a turn, slamming his hand over Shoda’s mouth as he tried to hide from Ilda if only for a moment, only for Shoda to let out a shout of pain, getting his attention the second they entered the room. Now flanked on either side, Izuku opted to throw Shoda at Ilda as hard as he could, knocking them both over.

Jiro moved to assist them, but Kaminari grabbed her hand.

“It’s a 2v1 and Midoriya-kun doesn’t know how to use his quirk,” he explained. “They can handle it at least long enough for us to get to the bomb.”

“Shit, you’re right, let’s go.”

The pair turned and ran to the stairs, unaware that Izuku had already pinned Shoda onto Ilda. The shorter boy was already halfway wrapped in capture tape before Ilda revved his engines into a kick to Izuku’s shin. He stumbled back, letting out quiet swears as the two boys rose to their feet.

Ripping the capture tape off him, Shoda threw the whole reel at Midoriya as hard as he could, impacting against his chest with only just enough force for some of the tape to stick to the glowing boy at first, only for it to spin around and hit his back hard enough to make the boy stumble and miss the punch he aimed Shoda’s way.

Izuku tried to regain his balance, only for an engine powered kick to impact with the back of his head, knocking him over onto Shoda just long enough for the shorter boy to grab the roll of capture tape from behind him and pull it around front.

“Young Midoriya has been captured!” All Might said over their comms, moments before the three boys let out a breath.

“You did quite well Midoriya-kun!” Ilda said. “It can be quite difficult to take on multiple opponents at once, especially ones with years more experience than you.”

“Thanks,” Izuku said, upset.

“Hey I don’t know about Ilda-kun,” Shoda said, dusting himself off, “but I’ve been practicing pitching baseballs for years just to get used to my quirk. Even something like the tape spool would’ve left a bruise on the first hit if you didn’t have your quirk up.”

Izuku stared off into the distance for a moment before nodding. “Ok,” he said in a much better mood, “but uh, I don’t know if I’m allowed to hold you back for much longer now that I’m out. I’ll be outside if you need me.”

If either were going to reply, they were interrupted by All Might announcing over their comms “Young Kaminari and Jiro have been captured!” The next moment, Ilda was charging headfirst toward the stairs, arriving at the 3rd floor to find his teammates tied up in a net that clung to the wall. Skidding to a halt just outside the door opposite them, Ilda was confronted with a Yaoyorozu still reloading her netgun, the bomb looming behind her. He lunged to try and pull it out of her hands, but she created a steel pole from her hand as she dropped the gun, blocking him.

The pair briefly clashed in melee before Ilda threw a kick that she dodged to the side moments before realizing it was a feint that let him close the distance between him and the bomb.

Ilda slammed his hand against the surface of the bomb awaiting All Might to announce the end of the activity.

What All Might announced instead was “Young Shoda has been captured!” moments before Ilda took a staff to the back of the knee hard enough to make him lose his footing. As he fell, Ilda felt Yaoyorozu slam into his back, driving his head into the metallic shell of the bomb. ‘Weren’t the bombs paper mache?’ he thought for a moment before trying to pull away from it, only to stumble as his hand, helmet, and breastplate all stuck to the surface of the bomb.

A moment later, All Might announced the end of the activity with “Young Ilda has been captured, the villain team wins!”

Chapter Text

“Well done all of you!” All Might said as the teams returned to the observation room. “Now, who do you think was the MVP of that exercise?”

 “Oh Midoriya-kun easily,” Uraraka said instantly.

“What? But I was the only one on our team who got captured!”

“You were also the one to come up with the entire plan,” Yaoyorozu countered. “A plan which I doubt the hero team could have overcome even without the decoy.”

“Where did you put the bomb anyway?” Jiro asked. “I didn’t hear it anywhere.”

“We kept it on the 5th floor where I was standing when you came in,” Uraraka explained. “As soon as Midoriya-kun saw you he let us know, and I brought it up to the roof and let it go.

“You left it on the roof?” Shoda asked. “That seems, I mean we definitely could’ve found it there.”

“No, I’d taken its gravity and was letting it float away.”

Shoda let his mouth hold open, about to say something, before letting it go with just a shrug. “Yeah we were fucked from the start.”

“Though if this were a real bomb,” Ilda asked, “would that not impact its blast radius?”

“Given the fact they took us out in like 5 minutes when they had 20,” Kaminari pointed out, “they had plenty of time to get the bomb back in the building.”

“But, I still lost in just a few minutes.”

“Young Midoriya,” All Might said, “you divided the hero team, faced off against what were in my opinion the 2 most dangerous opponents to face in hand to hand combat, and put up a good fight. This is to be commended. Fights in the real world are not like in the movies where characters will sit in the back waiting patiently for their turn to be kicked in the face, if your enemy has you outnumbered they will more likely attack you all at once, which does not make a 2v1 twice as difficult as a 1v1, it makes it an order of magnitude harder. Does anyone know why? Young Kaminari.”

“I don’t know if this is exactly right,” the teen said nervously, “but I play ttrpgs, err table-top rpgs like D&D, and there’s a term in that community called the action economy to describe how much each side can do on their turns. If one side can do more, they’re probably going to win unless the other side can one-shot multiple enemies each turn.”

“Very astute observation, you are correct young Kaminari! Unless you can completely counter your enemies or they are as weak as toddlers, only with an excellent strategy will you be able to overcome enemies that outnumber you. Strategy like what young Midoriya demonstrated when he had large amounts of water placed in the bomb room, nullifying the quirks of half of the opposing team, or when he approached all 4 and only ended up needing to fight 2, leaving only a single foe fighting at full capacity against young Yaoyorozu.”

“This is not to say that the hero team did not do a good job themselves, having Young Jiro and Ilda scout out the layout and alternative paths was an excellent move! However, there is room for improvement. Does anyone know what one such area might be?”

“When Midoriya-san came and grabbed Shoda-san,” Kaminari said, “Jiro-san was about to run after them to help, but I held her back, saying that Midoriya-san wouldn’t be able to take on two opponents at once. I shouldn’t have done that, should I? If I hadn’t, Yaoyorozu-san would’ve had to take on all four of us at once.”

“Uraraka-san came down while I was on my way up,” Shoda countered. “We’d’ve had to take them on 2v4. We still probably would’ve won, but she one-shot me instantly already, I’m pretty sure she’d’ve been able to take one or two more. If she’d gotten Jiro-san and Yaoyorozu-san still had her netgun? We might as well’ve just given up on the spot.”

“By that point, you should’ve given up at the start,” Asui pointed out. “You were never going to overcome Midoriya-san’s plan, but we’re pointing out how to do better.”

If anyone else was going to say more, it was caught off by All Might coughing into his fist for a moment.

“My apologies,” he said after recovering, hiding away the blood on his hand. “I have a cold. Now then, onwards to the next teams!”

Neither of the rounds that followed lasted much longer than the first. The second round started with Koda informing the whole class that there was a very extensive rat colony in the fake city, which promptly sent Aoyama running away screaming, devoured Ibara’s hair into a very sloppy looking bob, and leaving Asui to take on both Sato and Sero on her lonesome. Izuku took solace in the fact she did worse than he did. The final round was the shortest by far, lasting just long enough for Todoroki to freeze the entire building, including the villain team, and walk up to the bomb.

“At least the hero team won once,” Ojiro said as teams B and E came back to the observation room.

‘Still can’t believe he called the teams that,’ Yoichi said in Izuku’s mind.

‘Make sure to tell him to change it to attackers and defenders for B class,’ Nana reminded him for not the first time since the exercise began.

“Indeed, and that is more impressive than you might first imagine!” All Might said. “I had initially intended there to be 5 bouts between teams of 2 to get a larger sample size, but after yesterday,” Hagakure shivered, and it wasn’t from the cold. “I had to rearrange the numbers. But even if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t expect the heroes to do much better than they did now. Would anyone want to gamble a reason as to why? Young Yaoyorozu.”

“Defending an objective is significantly easier than taking it, especially when the defender is given time to prepare. With this time, the defenders will be able to lay traps, narrow the angles of approach, and learn the layout of the area enough to evade the attackers, as could be seen with Midoriya-san’s plan of defense in our match. If we had been given more time to prepare, it likely would have been even worse; this is a statistical outlier, but I recall there was once a time where Paris was attacked by 30,000 vikings if the sources are to be believed, and managed to hold them back for months with only 200 men.”

“Indeed! In general, when going after a well defended position heroes generally need up to 10 times the amount of heroes as the villains has defenders, assuming stealth and none of the heroes have incredibly powerful quirks like mine or young Todoroki’s. Now, onto the review of the actual match, what little there was!”

“Todoroki’s the MVP,” Tetsutetsu said. “He soloed all three of us and there was nothing the two of them could’ve done. I might’ve been able to break out, I’d have to transform to do it, and as I told my team I can’t do parts of my body, just the whole thing. It’s also limited just to the surface, so when I transform my eyes are metal but my optic nerve isn’t, and since metal is a really good conductor,” he shook his head. “I would’ve been one ice blast to the face away from going blind in a way I don’t even think Recovery Girl could fix.”

“Oh my, I see. I’ll make sure to put a note in your file to never have you go up against Young Todoroki or Kaminari when possible. But no worries! Knowing your limits and when you are unable to deal with a situation is one of the marks of a great hero!”

“Um, if I may,” Izuku spoke out. “If you know this is an issue, you could probably go to the support department and get some sort of visor like mine? I don’t know if this was made by UA itself or contracted by some other company, but mine’s rated to be able to handle the cold of the upper atmosphere while keeping my face unharmed even if I went into a house fire.”

“The preparing for a fire I get,” Asui mentioned, pressing a large finger to her chin, “but why’d you make it able to go to space?”

“My grandma could fly, I’m not sure what my quirk is capable of, and you’re only allowed so many changes to your costume in a school year before you need to start paying for them, so I’m hedging my bets.”

“Yes, thank you Young Midoriya for the excellent segway. Over these first few days your heroic classes will be focused on finding your baseline. Today was your combat potential, tomorrow you will be focusing on public persona while your sister class has this same lesson, and I will return the day after for an introduction to rescue heroics! If at any time you find that your costume is detrimental to your efforts, you will be allowed one costume redesign without eating into your, I think it was 3 free changes over the course of your three years here? I have a stack of redesign forms here, but it’s generally better to go in person and talk it out with the support technician. They may have ideas that you’d never thought of, or be familiar with materials you had no idea existed. Is anyone here familiar with biofiber, for example?”

Tentatively, Izuku raised his hand. He was the only one.

All Might asked him to explain, and so he did. “If I recall correctly, Biofiber is cloth made from the wearers hair, and is able to work in tandem with the wearer’s quirk. I’m pretty sure that’s how Mt. Lady’s costume doesn’t explode to ribbons every time she grows.”

“Exactly correct!” All Might said with a snap. “Though I should inform you those of you who might be interested in having your costume made of biofiber of two things. Firstly, it doesn’t need to just be made for the hair on your head, body hair will work just as fine. Secondly, it can be quite expensive, and take several weeks if not months to gather enough hair to make a single costume. To that end, I recommend asking in person if you would be a good fit for it. Now, would anyone like one of these forms?”

Tetsutetsu was the only one who took one before they made their way to the locker room.

The second the door closed, Izuku let out a deep sigh. “Thank fuck,” he said under his breath.

“Midoriya-kun, is everything alright?” Ilda asked concerned.

“Yeah, just finally don’t have to worry about, just, did you even see Ochako and Yaoyorozu’s costumes?”

“Yeah I get where you’re coming from,” Tetsutesu said. Hagakure didn’t know about biofiber, and I found out during my round that she can’t turn her clothes invisible. I can’t imagine my girlfriend would’ve been happy about me being, honestly even in the same room as her when she’s like that, much less looking. I can’t imagine what it was like for you having both her and Yaoyorozu on your team.”

Izuku turned to Tetsutetsu with a look of horror. A moment later, he spoke as loud as he could without shouting, saying “Jiro-san? Make sure Hagakure-san gets a biofiber costume please.”

From the other room, a locker door slammed shut in response.

‘Honestly I want a word with whoever decided those suits were acceptable!’ Nana growled. ‘What if she’d run into someone with a quirk erasure effect that didn’t rely on sight!?’

Returning to his regular volume, Izuku asked “But are any of you thinking of getting new costumes after this?”

“I mean I might stop by on Friday,” Ojiro said, “don’t wanna waste my one chance at a free redesign, but there’s not much I can do with,” rather than finish his sentence, he just swished his tail.

“Fair enough, I guess,” Sero shrugged.

The conversation continued from there, but Izuku had stopped paying attention. Instead he was focused on what his headmates were saying.

‘Did you catch that the metal boy assumed you had a girlfriend?’ En asked, his voice even and empty of emotion.

‘He what!?’

Izuku could hear En’s smirk. ‘He said that he couldn’t imagine what it was like for you being on a team with both your girlfriend and Yaoyorozu. He thinks you and Ochako are an item.’

Izuku took a sharp inhale as his back went ramrod straight.

“Ok now somethings wrong,” Kaminari said with certainty.

“Yeah, uh” Izuku’s voice was even higher than normal. “I just, uh, I just realized that Tetsutetsu said that he thought I was on a team with my girlfriend in class today.”

“Indeed, you and Ochako are dating, are you not?” Ilda said to Izuku’s mortification.

“N-no, no! I, I’m single, why did you, how did you even come to the conclusion that, no we met at the entrance exam and I didn’t even know her name before yesterday when Aizawa-sensei said it.”

“Wait really?” Tetsutetsu asked. “Oh, sorry for saying that, didn’t mean to upset you.”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Izuku said, his voice still high pitched. “Anyway, I’m gonna go, uh, check out the support department, see if they have anything interesting, bye!”

Chapter Text

‘Soooo…’ En said as Izuku power walked down the hall. ‘We gonna talk about how you reacted to getting called out on having a crush?’

‘Because Jiro-san might’ve heard everything,’ Izuku thought just slower than his mutter storms, ‘and if she had she’d’ve probably told Ochako, and if that, no no it just cannot be allowed to happen, let alone find out that I have feelings for her. If she does, it’ll ruin the first and closest friendship I’ve had since Kacchan started making explosions. ‘Men are afraid women will laugh at them, women are afraid men will kill them.’ If they even suspect I like them like that they’ll put distance between us, and just, no, never, it’s not happening.’

‘Ok but then at some point you’re going to have to tell a girl you like her,’ Daigoro said, slightly confused. ‘Either that, you find out you’re also into dudes, or you never get in a relationship.’

‘Not that there’s anything wrong with that if you don’t want it,’ Hikage said. ‘But I’ve spent enough time in allosexuals’ heads to know that you people get really upset when you don’t. I would bet money that Eighth either cried himself to sleep from how lonely he was or passed out from exhaustion after working so hard he could forget his loneliness more often back in his 20’s and 30’s than he didn’t.’

‘I’m going to die alone and unloved,’ Izuku thought resolutely, ‘I’ve already come to terms with that. No one would ever be interested in a pathetic deku like me, and trying to delude myself otherwise is just going to hurt me worse. Honestly it’s a miracle I even have friends, and there’s no point in wishing for anything more. It’s not going to happen, it’s never going to happen, and just, it’s fine. I’m fine. It’s not like I could even try and do anything when my grandmother lives in my head.’

Said grandmother was about to say something, but was cut off by a door exploding off its hinges as something large slammed into Izuku, knocking him over.

“Hatsume-chan!” yelled a man from the now doorless room. “Are you ok?!”

The mass on top of Izuku groaned. “Yeah, I’m fine, just fell on, what did I fall on?” she shifted enough that Izuku could see the golden eyes and pink dreadlocks of the woman, as well as the ample amount of cleavage now resting over his lips. Instantly his eyes went wide as he started to glow, throwing her off him and down the hallway.

Ignoring the uproarious laughter from Daigoro and the ensuing argument between him and the rest of the vestiges about that not being the right time, Izuku scrambled to his feet. “Oh no, sorry I didn’t mean to throw you so far, are you ok?!”

The girl just laughed as she stood up. “Not the first time I’ve been flung around like that, but it usually takes more than 5 minutes between them. But what are you doing here? Haven’t most people gone home already?”

“He could ask you the same question,” the man said, stepping out to reveal his metal helmet and bare chest. Izuku instantly recognized him as Powerloader, one of the few heroes who were also support engineers. “But he’s a hero student; they have an extra period after the rest of the students have gone home.”

“Huh. Neat! Wait, if you’re a hero student, then are you here to get your gear checked out?”

“More to see if Powerloader-sensei had any suggestions; I don’t wanna waste the one free upgrade I get. Though, uh, you never did explain why you’re still here?”

“Oh that? I apparently beat the record for the support course entrance exam, and Maijima-sensei wanted to introduce me to a hero student who did the same for their exam. Do you know him? His name’s something like Missouri Zuko, I forget; I’m bad with names.”

“Uh, my name’s Midoriya Izuku actually.”

“WAIT IT’S YOU!?” Hastume yelled before grabbing Izuku by the collar and dragging him into the room, finally letting go as she all but threw him into a swivel chair before grabbing a tablet for her to look through. “Ok so I already pulled up your costume and was looking at it, and I have to say that it’s actually really well done, but not to the point where I couldn’t improve it with a few of my babies.” She continued after that, but Izuku couldn’t hear her.

It took him a minute or two, but finally Izuku managed to interrupt her by saying “I-uh-b-babies?”

“Hmm? Oh yeah, the babies I make here in the labs! I can’t wait to make some babies with you!”

And once again, Izuku could do nothing more than stare directly ahead. Even the ghosts in his head didn’t know what to say.

‘Oh her boyfriend’s poor pelvis,’ Daigoro finally said, his voice half a laugh.

‘I’m more concerned for his wallet,’ En deadpanned. ‘But Izuku, this is not what we meant when we said you should get a girlfriend.’

It took everything Izuku had to not jump out of his chair at that. ‘Wha-bu-nononono it’s not—'

‘Let’s see,’ En began to count. ‘She threw herself at you, shoved your face into her boobs, dragged you into another room so she could throw you on some furniture, and is going on about wanting to make a baby with you. I’ve spent enough time around straight women to recognize a pattern there.’

‘And if you make me a great uncle before you graduate,’ Yoichi said with a smile, ‘I will claw my way out of hell just to strangle you.’

Fortunately, someone else entered the room and said something to distract the vestiges from teasing their host.

Unfortunately, that someone was Uraraka flanked by Yaoyorozu, Hagakure, and Tetsutesu, and what she said was “You want to do WHAT with Midoriya-kun!?”

Hatsume turned to look at the newcomers. “Hmm? Oh I was just—”

“That’s what she calls her inventions!” Izuku interrupted. “It’s just what she calls her inventions, we aren’t, that’s, this is the first time we’ve ever met, I don’t even know her name, and she’s probably already forgotten mine.”

“Oh I’m Hastume Mei, sorry for that Macedonia.”

“It’s Midoriya.”

Hatsume ignored him and continued on. “But yeah I was just suggesting we add a communicator to his suit so he could talk to the rest of the heroes without needing to pull out his phone.”

“Ah, uh, ok.” Uraraka said, stunned for a moment.

“But can we get our costumes redone?” Hagakure asked. “I can’t turn my clothes invisible, and I didn’t know biofiber existed before today.”

“You what now?!” Powerloader said, suddenly appearing behind his desk and pulling up a list. “Names, now.”

“Hagakure Toru, Uraraka Ochako, Yaoyorozu Momo, and Tetsutestu Tetsutetsu respectively sir,” Tetsutetsu said, pointing to each in turn. “Each of my characters are different, if you want I can type it in myself, but feel free to save me for last.”

“No need, I’ve got it up already, and yeah how the fffrick they managed to get Hagakure-chan and Yaoyorozu-san’s costumes through is a mystery; there is no way this should’ve been allowed. Hagakure-chan needs biofiber, which means we’re gonna need as much of your body hair as we can manage. Yaoyorozu-san doesn’t need it if you don’t want it, but it’d give you a lot more flexibility and wouldn’t need a complete redesign.”

“Can you use my head hair?” Toru asked. “It’s about 15cm long.”

“Excellent! Yaoyorozu-san, I don’t suspect you feel the same?” Powerloader asked as he turned to look at them.

“My apologies Sensei, but I do enjoy my hair being long and am doubtful of whether or not it would even be enough for a new costume just by itself.”

“No need to apologize, we’re making custom costumes for you, displaying your personality is a key part of that. Hatsume-chan! Yaoyorozu-san is higher priority than Midoriya-kun is, can you deal with her?”

“Yes sir!”

“Great! Now, Tetsutetsu-kun, Uraraka-chan, how can I help you?”

Tetsutetsu activated his quirk, his whole body turning into shining steel. “I need a way to keep my still fleshy nerves from getting destroyed when I tank an elemental attack.”

“Oh, I’m just here to check on Midoriya-kun, since we’re friends and the boys in my class said he came this way.”

‘Ah young love,’ Bruce snarked. ‘It makes me want to barf.’

‘She and I are just friends!’ Izuku thought as he followed Uraraka out.

‘We are going to have to have a talk about this later,’ Nana chastised, ‘but I want you to know that if I become a great grandmother before you graduate, I’m joining Yoichi in crawling outta hell.’

——————————

On the other side of the country, a lanky-limbed man clad in clothes fit for a man he had never met pinned to his body by a half-dozen severed hands placed a newspaper on a bar’s countertop. “So the symbol of peace has become a teacher huh?” he said, his voice sore. “Heh, I’d love to see the look on these vulture’s faces when we splatter his guts all across that damned school.”

“Indeed,” All for One said through the screen in the corner of the room. “If you manage that, the League of Villains will have made quite the stir, possibly even one as large as that damnable glowing baby did. But you should remember that this is a very big if.”

Shigaraki began scratching at his neck. “It can’t be that big; you said the doc’s newest Nomu would be able to handle anything All Might threw at him! And Kurogiri’s tested his portals enough that there’s no doubt what’ll happen to him!”

“Shigaraki-sama,” the mist-covered barkeep interjected, “I would remind you that I have never encountered a material that we can guarantee is as durable as All Might’s body. The odds are slim, but there is the chance he may be too durable for me too—” Kurogiri was silenced by his charge suddenly reaching out and grabbing at his head, only for his hand to grab nothing but air as his hand was suddenly at the far side of the bar.

“Shut. Up. We tried diamond, osmium, titanium, fucking everything. Even a few asshats with durability quirks. There’s no way in hell you can’t handle it.”

“Hold on now,” All for One said as Shigaraki pulled his hand back, “Kurogiri holds some truth, but that is not what I meant. It is true, between the two of them All Might stands no chance. All else being equal. Except, everything is not equal, and we aren’t sure when, where, or who might be there with him at the time. Need I remind you that this is a hero school? One who’s entire faculty are licensed and practicing pro heroes? Including one who had managed to evade my clutches for years until I lost interest?”

“Yeah, and that’s what the army of mooks is for! Even if they’re nothing but cannon fodder, they outnumber the teachers!”

“By less than a 2:1 ratio,” One for All reminded him. “And given the quality of the recruits…”

If the self-titled demon king had anything else to say, Shigaraki didn’t hear any of it. Instead, he jolted to his feet and began to remove the hands. “Fuck it! I’m getting pissed off! I’m going for a walk to calm down. Might get dinner while I’m out.”

All for One chuckled menacingly. “Very well. Have a nice time. If you do end up getting food, may I recommend the Kasakaru Club?” Shigaraki suppressed a shudder as much as possible.

“I’ll think about it,” Shigaraki said, closing the door behind him.

Tomura let out a breath. There was no way they could’ve known, he never told anyone about tonight. There should be no reason anyone should be able to suspect he was going to meet up with the only person he could call a friend. He’d met Luna Bunny in League of Legends’ random queue and they played really well together, friending each other after the first match, and playing together at least once a week every week for coming up on 7 years. Genuinely, she was the only person he could say he cared for outside of Kurogiri and his Sensei, and even then he sometimes wondered if he cared more for her than he did the other two combined.

And now, they were finally going to meet in person, and it was nerve wracking. Not helped by Sensei mentioning where the two were going to meet. He shouldn’t even know about Luna, Tomura never mentioned her! Sensei was probably just being genuine in his recommendation, Kasakru did make some good food, and it was the closest gray-bar to their base, so it was a natural place to go.

Tomura sighed as he walked, taking in the sights as he wondered, letting it calm him down. He almost didn’t notice when he arrived.

Silently he made his way into the bar. While he waited for Luna, he idly thought about how this was probably the last time he’d be able to go out in public without covering his face. He was brought out of his head by a notification on his phone. A DM from his LoL friends. He couldn’t help from smiling at seeing Luna’s name.

Luna Bunny: I’m almost there. I’m a brown woman in a red hoodie, complete with face mask.

Dust2Dust: Waiting on you
I’ve got light blue hair and am wearing all black.
And I’m a dude
Which you already knew
So I didn’t need to say that
But you said you were a chick so…

Luna Bunny: Lol, it’s fine, I gotchu

Dust2Dust: :thumbsup:

Tomura let out a groan as he hung his head. Future supervillain, current ball of anxiety terrified to meet their friend.

Fortunately he didn’t have much time to ruminate on this, as soon a woman sat across from him at the table; a dark skinned woman in a red hoodie and face mask.

“You Dust?” she asked in a quiet voice Tomura was more used to hearing yell obscenities and swearing to fuck the opposing team’s mothers.

“Yeah,” he replied quietly. For a moment he thought to himself if saying anything more was wise, deciding that regardless he trusted Luna. “Though in meatspace I go by Shigaraki Tomura.”

“Nice to meet you Tomura-kun,” Luna said, her smile audible behind her mask. “Name’s Usagiyama Rumi, though most call me Mirko.”

Chapter Text

“Good morning everyone,” Vlad King said as he walked into the classroom. “How are you all doing?” Most of 1-B let out groans of assent, though Bakugo and Kodai both stayed silent, and Ashido nearly leapt out of her seat.

“I was doing great till a reporter shoved a mic in my face as I was coming onto campus this morning!” she said, though despite her words her tone and face were still overjoyed.

“Yeah didn’t they say something about All Might teaching here?” Kirishima asked expectantly.

“Yes he is,” Vlad King explained. “He and I will be alternating who will be your heroics teacher, since he’s also going to be teaching 1-A,” he pointed his thumb at the wall behind him that 1-A and 1-B shared. “who has their heroics class at the same time. He was with them yesterday, he will be with you today, then go back to them tomorrow, repeat. We were planning on having it be a surprise for this class as well, but it appears the media has spoiled our fun on that.” The teacher let out a sigh. “You may notice some of your teachers calling the reporters vultures. That’s somewhat common among heroes, so don’t be surprised.”

“Seems a bit rude to call them that,” Kamakiri said tentatively.

“You saying they’re not?” Bakugo growled. Rin said nothing, just rubbed the back of his neck.

“Now then, announcements over, there’s something we need done today before the end of homeroom: electing your class president.” There was an immediate hum of energy among the students. “You may decide your rep however you want, but I will keep you in line if anything gets out of hand.”

The class immediately erupted with calls of who wanted to be the class president, to the point where Vlad King nearly had to get involved. He only didn’t because Katsuki beat him to it by yelling louder than everyone else in the room “Everyone sit your asses down and shut the hell up! Can’t hold a vote if we can’t hear ourselves think for fuck’s sake!”

It took a moment, but his classmates complied. Finally satisfied, Katsuki got out of his chair and began to speak. “First off, I’m not gonna be the rep.” There was a murmuring among the small group of students who’d befriended the angry chihuahua that he violently ignored. “Anyone else want out?”

“Since you won’t be at any of the meetings,” Yui signed, “I probably won’t be able to talk. I’m withdrawing.”

“Mute doesn’t want any votes,” Katsuki translated. “Anyone else?”

“I Japanese bad speak,” Pony said in broken Japanese. “No votes.”

“Wrong word order,” Katsuki said. “You’d say that as ‘I speak Japanese bad.’ Anyone else?”

“U-um,” Komori said nervously, shaking with anxiety as she brought attention to herself. “I-I think I’m a bit too shy to do a good job.”

Katsuki just nodded, before waiting for another person to pull out of the vote. After a moment of silence, he spoke up again. “Alright, 16 out of 20 want to be prez. If everyone votes, there’s gonna be at least a couple people with more than one vote even if we say you can vote for yourself. Alright, everyone’s gonna take out a paper and write a name on it, then put it on my desk. I’ll count ‘em, first place gets the presidency, runner up is their vice. Any problems?”

There were none, and so the voting started. A few minutes later it was done. Katsuki quickly counted the votes, and let out a loud swear before presenting the results.

“So despite me telling you extras that I’m not running, I somehow got twelve votes, you assholes. At least some of you weren’t stupid enough to not also vote for another person, but even then we’re only dealing with 16 votes, and only 3 people with more than one. Two for Eren Jeager, four each for Copycat and Ginger-smack. You two,” he pointed to Monoma and Kendo, “rock-paper-scissors, best two outta three, winner is prez, loser is vice.”

“Aw come on man,” Kirishima said with a smile. “You won in a landslide! Why don’t you—” a balled up piece of paper bounced harmlessly off the hardening boy’s face.

“I’m not taking any positions except maybe Mute’s translator if you wanna count that.” Katsuki growled as he sat back down.

“I mean—” Vlad King began, only for Katsuki to interrupt. “I have my reasons, leave it at that.”

While the rock-paper-scissors tournament was going on, Katsuki glared at his teacher, mouthing “You know why I can’t,” where none of his classmates could see.

——————————

‘How are you still shell shocked from this morning?’ Yoichi asked, amused by Izuku’s blank face.

“I was made class president so fast, I’m not ready for this, I’ll do a horrible job,” Izuku muttered aloud.

“You’ll do just fine!” Uraraka said cheerily as she scarfed down her lunch.

“I concur,” Ilda said with a slight nod. “You have demonstrated excellent leadership abilities already, as well as exceptional judgement both of character and of what course of action to execute. I know I voted for you because I knew you could weather anything that came upon us, and I have no doubt the others felt the same!”

‘One voter found,’ En commented, ‘four more to go.’

‘Two and three actually,’ Kudo pointed out. ‘Nine voted for himself.’

“But didn’t you want to be the class president Ilda-kun?” Ochako asked.

“As I told the class before elections,” Ilda said sternly, “mere volition has nothing to do with one’s suitability. I did nothing more than vote for the only person I felt would be best suited for the position.”

‘I’ve met yakuza bosses that had less of a stick up their ass than this kid,’ Bruce said.

‘Would’ve been hard to fit your dick up there if they did,’ Kudo said with a smirk.

‘The less I know about my elder brother’s sex life,’ Hikage deadpanned, ‘the happier I will be.’

‘The less you people talk about your sex lives where I can hear,’ Izuku deadpanned, ‘the happier I will be. Also what was that about Hikage and Bruce’s backstory?’

‘My brother was the head of the Shie Hassaikai yakuza family back when we were alive.
I met Bruce because he started dating my brother after the death of his husbands.’

“Midoriya-kun, is everything ok?” Ochako asked.

Suddenly sitting up straight, Izuku quickly spoke up, his nonchalance painfully forced. “Huh? Oh yeah no I’m fine why do you ask?”

“You just stared into the middle distance before suddenly looking surprised is all.”

“Uh, that’s just because I realized something. Ilda-kun, are you related to Ingenium by any chance?”

“Ah, why yes! He is my elder brother. May I ask what brought you to this conclusion?”

“His quirk works similar to yours, just on his arms instead of his shins, and in an interview once that he was part of the Ilda Family that’ve been heroes for generations, evenasfarbackasthedarkageofquirksHesaidthatheinheritedhisheronamefromhisgrandfatherwhowasthefirstpersoninthefamilywithanenginequirkandwhichwasacombinationthecurrentIngeniumsgreatgrandparentsquirksonewhowashadsteelskintheotherwhocouldgiveherselfsuperspeedbydrinkingsugarwatersortoflikehowSatosanfromourclasshasaquirkthatgiveshimstrengthinexchangeforsmartsbutwithoutadownsidewhichwasreallyrareforsecondgenquirk!”

“I am terribly sorry Midoriya-kun, but you are mumbling and I can’t understand what you’re saying. That said, yes, my family have been heroes since the dawn of quirks!”

‘Well fuck me,’ Kudo muttered while his husbands laughed.

‘What’s going on?’ Izuku asked.

‘The only Ilda that was active during the dark age was this guy with all metallic skin named Atsushi that my daughter ended up marrying,’ Kudo said bitterly. ‘Which means this brat is my descendant.’

‘Odds of Tetsutetsu and that sugar guy also being related to them?’ Daigoro snarked.

‘I would rip out Bruce’s intestines and hang myself from them.’

Before another round of laughter could run its course through the ghosts, an alarm began blaring, stopping all conversation in the cafeteria instantly and causing many students, Izuku and his friends included, to jolt to their feet just as the intercom crackled to life. “Security Level 3 has been breached,” said the mechanical voice. “Students, please promptly make your way in a calm and collected manner to the nearest exit.”

Unfortunately, whoever had made that recording had neglected to factor in one of the basic facts of human psychology. If you tell someone they’re in danger, nothing they do afterwards will be either calm or collected.

Immediately, the mob of students started panicking and shouting as they, like a tidal wave of syrup, tore through the room at alarming speeds only to all be stuck at the door, unable to squeeze anyone through.

‘Any idea what they meant by Level 3 breach?’ Izuku asked as he was forcefully jostled around.

‘Someone’s on campus who shouldn’t be, but they haven’t turned hostile yet,’ Yoichi said, his voice stern. ‘Try and head to the windows, see if we can see who’s here.’

As instructed, Izuku did exactly that, and as his face got smushed into the glass, he saw another mob of people like the one he was in, this time clad in suits and carrying cameras and microphones instead of school uniforms and what remained of lunches.

‘It’s the fucking media!’ Nana snarled. ‘Gods damned vultures, every last one of them!’

‘Nine, here’s a trick Eight never learned,’ Kudo said, slightly amused despite the circumstances. ‘Focus One for All on your lungs, throat, jaw, and voice box, and it’ll let you yell really loud. Take a breath after every sentence, and keep them short. If you need a second hand to count the words, make it shorter. You can only hold so much air in your lungs, and five words is pushing it.’

‘Thanks for the warning,’ Izuku thought before his chest, neck, and the lower half of his face began to glow green. Taking a deep breath in, Izuku looked up at the ceiling and roared out “Everyone! It’s just the press! They broke past the gate! But they’re not a threat! Calm down! And spread out a little! Someone might’ve gotten crushed!”

Izuku stopped glowing, his hand immediately coming to his neck as he started coughing, almost unable to breathe from how rough it had been on his throat.

“Midoriya-kun are you ok?” Ochako asked from beside him.

“I’m fine,” he wheezed between coughs. “Demoed a new skill. Needs work. I’m gonna go to the nurse. See if Recovery Girl can help. I can get there myself.”

She nodded and they made their way out, splitting up part way through. Along the way, Izuku passed the teacher’s lounge right as someone was coming out. This man, wearing a simple black hoodie, was holding a folder with four of his fingers as he stared at Izuku, his eyes looking like caverns of blood leaking into their cloudy surroundings.

“Oh, sorry, just on my way to the nurse,” Izuku said with a coarse voice.

“Oh, that’s fine,” the man said. “Just grabbing lesson plans for the class I’m subbing in for.”

“You’re a substitute teacher? It’s only like the second full day of classes.”

The man frowned. “And one of the home ec teachers had a very eventful patrol last night, so they asked me to sub in for them. Now get going, your voice sounds bad enough you shouldn’t stick around.”

Izuku just nodded and left perhaps a bit faster than he’d been walking before, but if the man noticed Izuku couldn’t hear his footsteps.

The second he got into the nurse’s office, before his mother could even welcome him back, Izuku blurted out “Did one of the home ec teachers get in an accident last night?”

Recovery girl looked at him with knit brows. “No, why do you ask?”

“Because someone claiming to be subbing for them just stole something from the teachers lounge.”

Chapter Text

Once Inko finished telling her new coworkers what her son had told her, the room fell quiet for a moment, save for the clacking of Nezu’s typing away at a laptop. A quiet only broken when All Might let out a deep sigh. “This is the second time in just the last year that I know of that young Midoriya was confronted by a villain. Is this as common for him as it seems?”

“Third actually,” Nezu corrected without looking up. “Remember that he was in class with Bakugo Katsuki for that entire year as well.”

“Wait third?” Inko asked suddenly concerned. “What was the other one then?”

“Ah, did he not tell you about how we met?”

Inko began massaging her temples. “He’s apparently been keeping quite a few secrets from me, most of which seem to be tied to you in some way,” she said glaring at All Might.

All Might, now sitting up ramrod straight, stammered out the story of how he met Izuku and decided to start training him, only leaving out the truth about One for All. By the time he was finished, Inko was vibrating from worry, many of the teachers had buried their faces in their hands, Hound Dog was growling, and Aizawa leveled a glare at All Might as tired as it was furious.

“So you found a kid who had just gone through an extremely traumatic event, shattered his dreams and his vision of his idol, and just left him there, fully trusting someone you’d never met before to keep a secret we had to sign an NDA before even learning, before doubling back and finding him doing one of the most reckless, potentially lethal things I’ve ever heard one of our students doing before or during their time at UA, and decided to heap praise upon him like he’d never seen before?”

“I, uh, I was unaware of his homelife at the time,” was All Might’s only excuse.

“Shimurrra-san, has Midorrriya-kun been rrreceiving any sort of mental health assistance?” Hound Dog growled out.

“Not from a professional at least, I didn’t know he was this bad.”

“I don’t patrrrol on Mondays afterrr school,” the counselor said, “I’d like to start seeing him for an hour or so then if that’s alright.”

“My newest problem child aside,” Aizawa said, “let’s get back to the issue that brought us here: the villain he found. Any details on that?”

Nezu silently turned his laptop around to show the rest of the room. It showed a video, first of the front gate where, near the front of the reporters, a man with light blue hair was briefly shoved up against the door, moments before it collapsed. The man disappeared in the ensuing stampede, but appeared on camera again this time near one of the side entrances. Seeing it wasn’t locked, he made his way through the building quickly before arriving at the teachers lounge, where he searched around for a few moments before finding the desk he was looking for and pulling out a folder. On his way out, he ran into Izuku, where they had a brief conversation before Izuku left. The man started to make his way back, but paused briefly to look out a window, before swearing and pulling out his phone. Moments later, a doorway made of dark purple mist appeared, and the man walked through and vanished.

“From this,” the mammal said, “we can gather that the man has a powerful destructive quirk and is the one responsible for the decaying of the gate, that he has an accomplice with a teleportation quirk, and based on how he was able to easily make his way from the entrance directly to the lounge without any detours, he appears to have knowledge on UA’s layout. Furthermore, as he very deliberately searched for Yagi-san’s desk, it can be gathered that he was looking for something there. Yagi-san, did you notice anything missing from your desk when you went back there before classes?”

“No sir, I’m sorry but I missed it. It must be something that I wouldn’t have used during classes today.”

“Understandable, one moment,” Nezu spun the laptop around and began typing away once more. After a moment, he looked up. “It was a schedule of your classes. The last object you put in it was a note saying that the next two days would be spent with classes 1-A and 1-B going through the USJ.”

“The logical option would be for the warping villain to teleport the intruder and who knows how many others to the USJ during one of those classes so they can try and take out All Might,” Aizawa said seriously.

“I would say that they had a snowball’s chance in hell a that even workin’, but…” Snipe looked over at the almost corpse-like form of the strongest hero in Japan. “Yeah, we ain’t lettin’ you go nowhere without some backup.”

“Would it be possible to postpone the lesson until next week?”

“Except if it doesn’t work they’d still have access to my schedule and know when I leave for the day, by which point my timer is usually nearly or entirely used up.”

“Which wouldn’t be a problem if you waited until after school to go patrolling,” Inko said, her glare like steel. “Which even if we go with setting up a trap you’re still going to do for those days, understand?”

“Wha-do you expect me to leave villains—”

“You are not the only hero out there. If I have to strap you down to the seat of my car to make sure you don’t lose any time I will do it.”

“A civilian glaring murder at the number one hero to make sure he uses basic common sense aside,” Vlad King said, “Trapping a teleporter is damn near impossible, especially when we have no idea how it works. They’re going to attack at some point during our time at USJ, but it could be anywhere. Our best bet is to put another hero or two with the classes to protect them if anything goes wrong. Eraser and I will already be with our classes, as well as All Might and Thirteen once we get to the USJ, but I’d like some more combat focused heroes, preferably ones who can take on multiple opponents. Midnight, your planning period is then, right?”

——————————

“Midoriya-kun, how should we arrange ourselves to be ready to board the bus!” Ilda almost shouted as the class gathered together outside.

“Uh, I don’t see why that would matter? I don’t have a problem with people sitting wherever they want; the rides only going to be a few minutes. Yaoyorozu-san, can you think of any reason?”

“Beyond the common courtesy of ensuring that each of our classmates are given as much space as they need,” the heiress said, “none that I can think of at this time.”

“So you’re saying we can sit next to our friends?” Kaminari asked, slowly stepping next to Jiro.

“That was my intention,” Izuku said, making Ilda silently fume.

Fuming that was made all the worse yet dissipated quickly when All Might laughed heartily and said “It’s alright young Ilda! The bus will be side seating, with you students allowed to sit wherever you like! Though Aizawa-san and I will be seated at the front of the bus, with Midnight-san and Snipe-san at the back! Beyond that, sit wherever you would like!”

Once they’d all taken their seats and the bus began to move, Izuku found himself flanked on either side by Ochako and Yayorozu, both of whom were sitting far closer to him than strictly necessary.

‘Do I hear a second girl crushing on you? Quite the Casanova you are.’ Yoichi snickered before Izuku slammed him and his husbands into a box as out of his head as possible.

‘Come on, two of them didn’t even say anything!’ Daigoro complained with a smile.

‘They were about too I could feel it. Please don’t speculate about my love life when my grandmother is right there.’

‘We did the same for Yagi and he’s all but legally my adopted son.’

‘Casual reminder that you are the first user of One for All who hasn’t had the ghosts in their head see their genitals,’ En said simultaneously deadpan and amused. ‘And it’s not like there’s much in the way of entertainment in here.’

‘And until you no one could hear a damned word we said,’ Daigoro said, ‘so we could get as out of pocket as we wanted.’

Before Izuku could decide whether to respond or to shove the rest of the vestiges into the same box he’d put his uncles, Asui spoke up from the seat across from him. “Hey Midoriya, I always speak bluntly since I’m bad at making expressions.”

“Hmm? Oh yeah that makes sense Asui-chan.”

“Call me Tsu. Anyway, your quirk reminds me of All Might’s.”

Izuku almost did a spit take.

“Wha, bu, no, All Might doesn’t glow,” Izuku said, flailing his arms around as he started to do exactly that.

“Yeah, but you’re also stupidly incredibly strong, just like him,” his froggy classmate countered.

“Tsu-san,” Ibrara interjected, “may I ask what the intended purpose of this line of question is?”

“It’s obvious isn’t it?” Tetsutetsu said. “His mom got a divorce, All Might’s involved somehow, his quirk is really similar, and this wouldn’t even be the first time we had the son of a top 10 hero in the class.” He pointed his thumb at Todoroki.

‘Gods if that were the case I might just hurl,’ Nana said.

At the front of the bus, All Might cleared his throat. “Firstly, it is not appropriate to openly speculate about the families of either staff members or your classmates. Secondly, Endeavor and the Ilda family are not the norm; most heroes go to great lengths to avoid revealing who their family is, and in some cases if they even have one at all. We will go into more detail as to why this is the case later, but suffice it to say that it can put our families in danger. Furthermore, the reason I had something to do with Shimua-san’s divorce is because I was the one to accidentally reveal her husband had been lying to her for years. Do not look into it any more than that, otherwise any of the teachers will be well within our rights to give you detention, do I make myself clear?” He paused while the class let out a murmur of agreement. “Finally, yes, mine and young Midoriya’s quirks do have some similarities. The same could also be said of young Ibara and Kamui Woods, or X-Less and young Aoyama, or Mirko and young Asui, or since he’s already come up, Endeavor and all of his sidekicks. It was merely a coincidence, and I’ve seen many individuals with no relation since the dawn of quirks having more similar quirks than young Midoriya and I.”

The remainder of the ride there passed in a tense silence.

When the bus arrived at the almost cartoonishly large building with USJ on the side, the class was once again invigorated. “They didn’t bring us to Universal Studios, did they?” Kaminari asked, tongue in cheek.

“No, that stands for Unforeseen Simulation Joint,” Eraserhead said. “Come inside and we’ll get you the whole spiel.”

Indeed, inside were a number of circled off areas, one a large pool with a boat in it, another the ruins of a destroyed city, the third a dome with flames painted on the side, each a different disaster scenario, each surrounding a central plaza on all sides but the one pointing towards the entrance.

As the students marveled at this wondrous display, they were approached by a fifth teacher, one wearing a large puffy astronaut suit and garish yellow shoes. “Hello everyone!” they began.

“It’s the space hero Thirteen! They’re one of the best rescue heroes in the country! Their quirk Black Hole is perfect for dealing with rubble and saving people from collapsing buildings!” To the surprise of everyone in class, the rant came not from Izuku, but from Ochako who was vibrating from excitement from her spot beside him.

‘Really not helping me get over my crush,’ Izuku thought.

‘You know, there are alternatives to just waiting for the crush to end,’ Daigoro said.

‘Shut up,’ Izuku commanded with a smile.

“I see one of you is a fan of mine,” Thirteen said, a smile on their voice before becoming serious. “While everything she said is correct, it is not the full story. Yes, my quirk is nearly unmatched in rescue, but the same could be said for its potential to do harm. The reason I chose to specialize as a rescue hero is because it is far easier for me to kill someone than to merely injure them. Even as a rescue hero, I still need to walk a very fine line, lest I get someone caught in its effects, something I’m sure is the case for many of your own abilities. Today, you are here to learn how to walk this line in a variety of scenarios.”

‘Sure, just vent your insecurities to a bunch of children, nothing wrong there.’ Daigoro grumbled.

Luckily, Aizawa was able to get the class’ attention. “Alright, first things first…” but he himself was distracted by a quiet noise, like a staticy tear. In a flash, all of the teachers had turned to the source of the sound, to find a swirling black vortex they all recognized.

What they didn’t recognize were the glowing yellow eyes it had at the top, nor the small army of villains that were pouring through it.

“Snipe and Midnight,” said the doorway, “the schedule we procured yesterday made no mention of the two of you.”

“What’s it matter?” the man covered in hands asked. Izuku inhaled sharply as he recognized the sound of his voice. “The one we’ve come to kill is already here.”

Chapter Text

All Might called out “Eraserhead, Aizawa, with me! Thirteen and Snipe start evacuation procedures!” before suddenly appearing with a bang in front of the villain with all the hands, who was now behind the large muscular villain with purple skin and an exposed brain. Aizawa and Midnight quickly leapt down the stairs to assist, goggles on, suit torn, and weapons out.

“Aight kiddos,” Snipe commanded, his voice only just carrying above the thunderous impacts of All Might’s fight with the muscular villain, “about face and make like a bat outta hell!” Without turning around, their cowboy teacher pulled out his revolver and fired it at one of the villains who’d tried to get too close, sending him to the ground as the rubber bullet impacted his knee.

“I’m afraid I can’t allow that,” said the living cloud of purple mist that now towered over the students, blocking their way to the exit.

‘Shit! Eraser must’ve blinked!’ Daigoro barked.

‘Or just has shit prioritization,’ En chastised.

‘NOT NOW!’ Izuku yelled.

“Greetings,” the mist-man said. “We are the league of villains. I’m terribly sorry for being presumptuous, but we’ve taken the liberty to enter UA so that we might be able to take the life of the symbol of peace.” Dread like none Izuku had ever felt pooled in his stomach, though how much was his and how much his grandmother he wasn’t sure. “But to do that, we can’t have the students getting in our way.” The mist began to surge forward, only for a fully metallic Tetsutetsu to charge forward and punch, something, inside the mist that let out a loud clang, sending the mist reeling back.

The metal boy turned back to his classmates for a moment, shouting “I’ve bought us some time, run!”

“Not nearly enough,” the mist said, pouring forward almost too fast to see. On instinct, Izuku grabbed the hands of the two closest to him, Yaoyorozu and Ochako, before everything went black.

When Izuku’s vision returned, the three of them were several meters above a pool of water. The trio screamed as they fell, impacting the water harshly, separating them before Izuku could get his bearings. Once he did, he quickly noticed that, even without his trying, he was slowly floating up.

‘Uraraka-chan must’ve clenched my hand when we fell,’ he thought. ‘But more importantly, the villains clearly have a plan in place; they stole a schedule, attacked while he was supposed to be away from school and isolated, and I doubt they talked this many villains into joining on in just a couple days.’

‘Oh absolutely not,’ Kudo said. ‘I counted over 30 perps. I speak from experience, they’ve been planning this op for weeks.’

‘Speaking of perps,’ Hikage brought up, ‘shark 2 o’clock.’

“Looks like the chum is here!” said the shark-like villain before opening his jaws farther than should have been possible, revealing razor sharp teeth, each as big as Izuku’s thumb as he charged towards them. “Sorry kids, but sayonara sucke-ACK!” The villain was cut off by a harpoon piercing his cheek and burying itself in his shoulder, the water turning red around him.

Before he could understand what just happened, a hand grabbed Izuku’s arm. In a flash, Yaoyorozu came less than 30cm from a glowing green fist pounding into her face as fast as the water would allow. Instead, Izuku redirected the blow into grabbing her by the collar and throwing her up to the surface, followed shortly by Izuku himself.

Grabbing her shoulder, Izuku was glad to see Ochako floating up not long after, popping briefly above the water before she went to deactivate her quirk.

Before she could, Yaoyorozu grabbed her wrist with one hand while creating a grappling gun with the other, firing it off at a nearby boat and zipping herself and her gravity-less companions up and over to it. With a smack on the heiress’ back, the trio floated to the ship’s deck before feeling their weight return to them.

“Thank you, Yaoyorozu-san,” Izuku said. “Excellent quick thinking. Sorry about almost punching you.”

“It’s alright Midoriya-kun, I understand,” the heiress said, her voice calm despite it all.

“Did either of you two see where that harpoon came from?” Ochako asked, slightly panicked.

“My father enjoys guns of all kinds,” Yaoyorozu explained, “spearguns included. It was one of the first complex machines I learned to make.”

‘Oh fun, a billionaire who’s also a gun otaku,’ Bruce muttered. ‘That can’t end poorly.’

“Ok, so we’re slightly less f-screwed than I thought we were,” Ochako said with a nod.

“I concur. Even though their end goal is clearly impossible, we still find ourselves surrounded by enemies.”

“You sure about that? They’ve gone through a lot of trouble if they just wanted to wing it,” Ochako said. “And I doubt they’d get this many people to help if they were. They must think they found a way to kill All Might.”

As Yaoyorozu’s face paled and the villains started to call out and demand they get in the water so they could be killed, Izuku began to mutter.

“ShesrighttheymustvecomeupwithsomewaytodefeatAllMightButwhatcoulditbeandwhynowThemookswouldprobablygetalotofrepforbeingontheteamthatkilledthesymbolofpeacebuttheleadershipForgetthatfornowhowwouldtheydoitTheydontappeartohaveanysortofpoisonsincetheguywiththebrainwasphysicallyabletotankanAllMightpunchseveralofthemifthethunderingImhearingistobebelievedandthemistvillainhadawarpquirkWaitawarpquirkTheyregoingtotryandtrapAllMightinaportalthencloseitcuttinghiminhalfButnotheydstillneedtotestitmakesureithadtheforceneededtoactuallyinjurehimandasfarasanyoneknowshescompletelyindestructiblenooneseverseenhimevenbruisedbeforeexcept, ohshititsmyfatherHestheonebehindthis.”

Izuku snapped his head to look out at the pool, unaware of the look of pure horror on Yaoyorozu’s face. “The villains down there,” he said, his tone serious, “they’re all focused on underwater combat, and they’re in the Flood Zone. That’s clearly not an accident, they knew about the layout of USJ. But if that’s the case, there’s something odd. We were teleported up into the air, and they sent Uraraka-chan with us. With her quirk, if she’d been the one in the middle she could’ve easily floated all three of us, keeping us out of the water. That means they don’t know what the student’s quirks are!”

“That’s true!” Ochako said with a nod and the hint of a smile. “If they knew my quirk they would’ve put me in the Conflagration or Downpour Zones, they have roofs, I’d be stuck inside.”

“That would also explain why they are so hesitant to climb aboard,” Yaoyorozu said, willing herself to focus.

‘Now would be an excellent time for me to develop some of your quirks,’ Izuku thought, mostly thinking of Nana’s Float.

‘If we knew how to force you to get them, ’ she replied, ‘you’d have had the whole set since before you walked on campus.’

“Ok, I have one, maybe two plans, depending on your quirks. Ochako-chan, how’s your stomach looking? How much longer do you think you could handle removing your gravity?”

“More than one minute, less than five.”

Izuku inhaled through his teeth. “Would really prefer longer. Yaoyorozu-san, can you make anti-nausea meds?”

Instead of answering, Yaoyorozu held out her hand as it started to glow. A moment later the glow faded to reveal two small white spheres. “50 milligrams of diphenhydramine. You’re supposed to take them with water, but I don’t think that’s an option right now with the villains in the water.”

“Plus this is probably pool water, so that’s fine by me,” Ochako said, taking the pills and downing them without issue. “Been dry swallowing meds since I was a kid.”

Yaoyorozu nodded. “Midoriya-san, while we wait for the medications to work, what is the plan?”

Izuku opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by water erupting from the front part of the ship, blown through by a villain.

“No time ta wait!” Ochako barked as the ship started sinking rapidly. “Izuku, how we gonna get outta here!?”

In a flash, Izuku was holding Yaoyorozu in his arms, his body arcing with green light. “Ochako, piggyback!” he commanded. “Take our gravity, remove yours when I tell you!” Ochako nodded as she hopped on, pressing one hand to each of her classmate’s faces. The instant Ochako had her arms around his neck, Izuku leapt up, shouting “Now!” as he felt the ship under him be reduced to shrapnel.

——————————

“Divide and conquer?” Shoto deadpanned, his breath visible in the air as he looked out over the now icy landscape of the landslide zone and the ice sculptures he’d made of the villains who’d been trying to attack them. “Looks to me more like a bunch of idiots who don’t know their quirks from their asses.”

“You say like you didn’t almost freeze Asui-chan!” the floating gym uniform said, sounding more like a small angry dog than a girl Shoto’s own age. Shoto glanced back and saw her, was she hugging the frog girl? And why did it look like she’d almost fallen asleep? Wait, weren’t frogs cold blooded? Was she? That was probably bad then.

“Sorry,” Shoto deadpanned over his shoulder. “Keep her away, I’m going to interrogate the villains.”

“We’re students!” yapped the uniform. “We shouldn’t even be doing that, leave it to the police!”

Shoto let out a sigh. “I’m the only thing keeping these villains frozen. Keep her over there, I will stay here. She should get better, eventually.” He looked back to the villains and continued talking, his tone unchanged. “Now, for the rest of you. You’ll be getting frostbite in a few minutes, and losing fingers shortly after. So tell me what I want, and I might let you leave unharmed.”

The villains suddenly looked at the two toned teen in terror, horrified at the thought.

“How were you planning on killing All Might?”

——————————

“Shit!” Jiro swore as she ducked under a kick from a villain who, for some reason, was wearing a bunny girl outfit.

“We need to get outta here!” Shoji said from one of his tentacles while the others blocked attacks from the villains.

“How the fuck are we supposed to do that!” Kaminari barked. “We’re surrounded!”

“Do either of you have AOE’s?” asked one of Shoji’s tentacles before being bit off by what looked to be an alligator man.

“This is all I got!” Jiro said, plugging her earlobes into her boots, magnifying the sound of her heartbeat to the point where every villain before her was left doubled over in pain, clutching their now bleeding ears.

“Do that again but backwards!” Kaminari said, pointing behind her.

“I’d have to turn around, and then what? Get stabbed!?” Jiro yelled, only for Shoji to jump in front of her. Instantly she turned on her heels and understood. Her heartbeat blasted a path to a nearby rope bridge, one which fortunately didn’t have anyone on the other side.

The trio bolted toward the bridge, the villains hot on their heels, only stopping when their feet hit solid ground again, and even then it was only Kaminari as he turned around and, staring down the long line of villains intent on murdering him, grabbed both sides of the bridge and let his quirk lose.

Instantly, most of the villains were knocked unconscious and fell over, leaving only one standing.

“He, damned brat, you’re not the only one with an electricity quirk!” the villain said.

“Whey,” Kaminari replied, a blank smile on his face as he lifted his hands to give a double thumbs up, revealing his real objective had been a success.

The ropes holding that end of the bridge up had been lit aflame by the bolts of lightning that had just been sent through them.

The villain’s eyes went wide in horror as he tried to scramble to the other side, climbing over the bodies of his comrades, but only barely getting fingers full of dirt as the bridge fell out from under him and they all fell down into the ravine, landing with a sickeningly wet crunch.

——————————

“Is that all of them?” Tetsutetsu asked, his fleshy body now bruised from the nearly dozen villains that had attacked his group when they first arrived.

“I believe so,” Thirteen said, taking point by the door.

“Thank God,” Ibara said, her vines having weaved themselves into a large bun to avoid the flames of the building around them. “Thirteen-sensei, are you certain this is a safe room?”

“I’ve been working at UA for eight years,” the teacher panted. “I’ve done the USJ more than any other teacher. Any room in the Conflagration Zone with a fire extinguisher and a window is safe.” They pointed their thumb behind them, gesturing at the fire extinguisher hanging on the wall cornering with a broken window.

“Then we should go out, see if anyone else got sent here!” Tetsutetsu said. “If we got warped here when we have a teacher with us, that means the others are still in the USJ! What if they sent Asui-san here!?”

“No,” Thirteen said, their voice stern. “You are not heroes yet, you do not have the training to save anyone. Tetsutetsu-kun, do you know how often firefighters go into a burning building?”

“Err, n-no Sensei, I’m not—”

“Only when fully equipped. They only go in when wearing a mask to keep out the smoke and a fireproof suit. Are either of you sufficiently protected?"

"No Sensei, but you—"

"Have never once been able to take on multiple opponents at once without assistance, and am currently wearing something intentionally highly visible. If I go out there, I will attract attention, and I will be attacked by more of those villains. And even then, what if a villain comes here? They would've sent all their fire quirk users here since they're the most suited to the environment, and how well do the two of you think you would fair against a fire user? I’m sorry, I know it sucks, more so than either of you could even imagine, but there are some disasters you can’t save people from. This is one of them.”

“So you’re just going to let them die!?” Tetstutetsu yelled, tears coming to his eyes.

Thirteen didn’t answer.

——————————

Now weightless, Izuku, Ochako, and Yaoyorozu soared through the air up and above the water, toward the central plaza and the still ongoing battle taking place there. On the side closest to them, Eraserhead was making light work of the villains, though their sheer number was still very concerning. On the far side, there was a large pink cloud obscuring dozens of figures, all but one of which appeared to be lying on the ground. Curiously, the standing figure, no doubt Midnight, wasn’t standing in the center of the cloud, but was near its edge, close to where All Might, the big purple villain, and the villain with the warp quirk were fighting, the villain covered in hands nowhere to be seen.

Izuku’s eyes widened in horror as he realized what was going on. The big villain was focused on All Might, preventing him from dealing with the lesser villains on either side, forcing Midnight and Eraserhead to deal with them, except that while Eraserhead and Midnight were there All Might was forced to hold back, keeping him from dealing with what he thought was the main threat. All the while, the actual main threat was waiting for an opening, waiting for All Might to step somewhere he wasn’t looking and step into a portal.

‘Shit,’ Izuku thought.

‘Where handjob!?’ Kudo growled.

‘Fucker’s got a destruction quirk!’ Nana said. ‘We think it’s melee only, but keep away from him!’

Izuku silently swore as he looked around. Nodding, he turned slightly toward Ochako. “We’re far enough, return our gravity.” The girl nodded and did so, the trio slowing in their ascent before beginning to fall. With a crunch, they landed, Izuku’s boots leaving cracks along the concrete ground.

“We should run,” Yaoyorozu said as she got out of Izuku’s arms, her face blushing. “We’d only be a detriment to our teachers.”

“You’re right about that!” the villain covered in hands said, charging at them, hand outstretched.

Izuku’s body moved before he even noticed, his arm glowing as he punched in the path of the man’s arm, impacting with a wet crunch.

The villain screamed, one hand going to the stump that remained of the other, blood gushing out onto Yaoyorozu’s face and chest as the hand dangled down off a single strip of skin.

“GAAAGH!!! YOU GRIEFING BASTARD!! I’M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU!!” he roared, lunging forward with his good hand and the sharp bone fragments of his other. Izuku tried to launch back, but toppled over, tripping on Ochako and knocking them both to the ground. The villain continued to lunge forward, toppling over after Izuku as he scrambled back, dragging Ochako by the arm after him. The pair barely managed to get far enough away that the villain’s hand came down between their legs, the ground around them being reduced to dust for several meters.

Izuku quickly kicked the villain in the face, this time with much less force, and scrambled to his feet, bringing Ochako with him as he ran. He was barely paying enough attention to notice the black mist villain teleporting to the hand villain’s side.

“Shigaraki Tomura!” the villain said. “We must escape immediately!”

“Gah, fuck! Damn it Kurogiri!” the hand villain groaned, good hand returning to his stump as he rose back to his feet. “Sensei gave that nomu too many quirks to let this be a TPK. Grab it too, we’ll try again later.”

“Of course,” Kurogiri said, his mist enveloping Shigaraki and the nomu still fighting All Might.

In a blur, the now freed All Might was able to quickly dispatch the remaining villains in the plaza before turning his attention to the students.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

“I think my arm is broken,” Ochako said, gesturing to the arm that hung limp by her side with the other. “I can’t move it.”

Yaoyorozu just let out a noise somewhere between a squeak, groan, and a grunt while staring into the mid distance.

Izuku looked away for a moment as if paying attention to something else before turning to the number one hero with a determination he’d only seen on the boy once before. “Can I go to the nurse’s office?”

Chapter Text

“Good news, your arm’s not broken,” Inko said, placing a hand on Ochako’s shoulder, “it’s only dislocated, which is much easier to fix. Bad news, Recovery Girl can’t kiss it and make it better, and popping it back into place will hurt quite a bit. Would you like something to bite down on when we do it?”

“Can I get a pain killer?”

“After this, yes, but I take it you don’t want anything to bite?”

“I’m goo—” Ochako’s eyes went wide and her mouth opened in a silent scream as Inko put her shoulder back.

“Sorry, it’s better if you don’t see it coming.”

“I doubt it,” Ochako said, her voice significantly higher than normal. “Can I have an ibuprofen now?”

“Of course,” Recovery Girl said, handing her the pills. “Now head back to class, you’ll need to give a statement to the police. If the pain hasn’t stopped by tomorrow, go to the doctor.”

Ochako nodded as she made her way out of the nurse’s office, passing by the skeletal form of Yagi Toshinori clad in his horribly gaudy and ill-fitting suit and the plain visage of the detective.

As soon as the door closed behind her, Izuku began to speak. “My father was behind the attack.”

“Wha-Izuku!” Inko said, rapidly looking between her son and the detective.

“It’s alright ma’am,” he said. “My name is Tsukauchi Naomasa, I’m a detective with the police and Toshinori-kun’s confidant. I know about One for All and your former husband. Midoriya-kun was likely just told about this by the vestiges, is that correct?”

“Yes, Uncle Yoichi introduced you when you came in. He also told me my father’s real name at the end of the attack, which he said was lost at some point, is that right?”

“Indeed; we were unable to find it, and if Nana knew she never told me,” Toshinori explained. “Though may I ask why you bring this up?”

“The villain with all the hands, the one I’m pretty sure I ran into yesterday, is apparently named Shigaraki Tomura, or at least that’s what the teleporter called him. And my father’s real name is Shigaraki Zen.”

There was a moment of silence at this as the adults took this in.

Inko began seething in the corner. “As if I needed more reason to divorce that asshole,” she muttered. “How the hell did I miss this for so long?”

“If I recall correctly, he kept going on business trips before dropping out of our lives entirely,” Izuku said, “and I don’t imagine he could’ve maintained a criminal network this cartoonishly large without knowing how to manipulate people.”

“Are you certain the two of you are related?” detective Tsukauchi asked.

“About the right hair texture, Tomura’s just a tad straighter than my father’s, light blue hair where my father’s was white, and they both have quirks that require hand contact. And it’s not like this would be the first time he had a child for some nefarious plot,” Izuku gestured to himself.

The detective rubbed his jaw in thought. “Did you notice anything else of note? About the potential family connection or anything else; you and Uraraka-san were the closest when this Shigaraki Tomura fled the battlefield.”

“Yeah, just before he left he said that his ‘Sensei’ had given the nomu, the big guy with the beak and exposed brain they had with them, a bunch of quirks.” He looked away for a moment. “And En-san just reminded me that he said it was ‘ that nomu,’ and that the warp villain, who he called Kurogiri by the way, should ‘grab it too.’ Whatever he was, he’s not the only one, and Shigaraki doesn’t consider him a person anymore.”

“And given that it was powerful enough that I would’ve needed to cause collateral damage to the point of risking the lives of the people around me to do more than fight him as an equal,” Toshinori chose not to finish that thought.

——————————

Early the next day, the school was closed and Izuku was laying on the couch scrolling through his phone, trying to distract himself from the anxiety that permeated his mind, most of which wasn’t even his but instead coming from his headmates.

Part way through catching up on a discussion on Skycrawler’s past as a vigilante and the drama surrounding him returning to Japan the day the statute of limitations for his crimes ended, someone sent a message in the class group chat they’d set up after their first day.

Tentacool: Anyone wanna hang out?
I’m a little frazzled after yesterday
Don’t wanna be alone

Real Steal: GFucking SAAAAAAAME!

Froppy: I’d love to, but my parents called into work and aren’t letting me out of their sight.
Literally
My mom is on the other side of the couch pretending to read her book while staring at me.
OverprotectiveMommaFrog.png

gr4v17yg1r1: 101
but yes plz h4ng0ut

Invisible Girl: Hey Ochako!
Welcome to the chat!
Why the leet speak? You’d be one of the last people I’d expect to use it.
And it’s kinda hard to understand.

gr4v17yg1rl: MirrorSelfie.png
f11p ph0n3
typ1ng r t4k3s 3 pr3ss3s 0f 6

xX_RavenLord_Xx: Truly that is a hell worse than any we have ever known
But if we are to gather and ward off the shadows of our minds together, I would not be opposed.

Shockrock: I’d say what I’m going through rn is worse than having to use leet speak.
I’ll explain when we figure out where we’re hanging out.

Ilda Tensei: If we are going to hold a class gathering, I would recommend we do so at one of our homes so that we do not attract attention and get people asking questions, as any large gathering of teenagers during a school day is want to do. However, given the sheer size of the class, the host would be limited to those with large homes. The Ilda estate currently only houses myself, my brother Tenya, and our perhaps half dozen staff, but at its height was home to nearly 30 individuals.

Princess Peach: I agree with Ilda, it would be best if we were at someone’s home. I would need to ask my brother and likely our parents, but our home could easily accommodate everyone.

Shoto: If I’m at this event, it’s to get away from my house for the day.

“Hey mom!” Izuku called.

“What is it Izuku?!” Inko called back as she made her way to the living room.

“My classmates want to hang out and destress, do you mind if they come here? Some of them might bring their parents.”

Izuku quickly took the tears welling in her eyes and the slight blubbering of “my baby” and “inviting friends” as a yes and typed very quickly before getting a mop.

Green for All: I live in Might Tower and my mom just said you can come here if you want. Room 7409, parents welcome, bring your own games.

By the time Izuku had gotten Inko under control, Ilda and Toru were already knocking at the door.

Two hours later, Momo arrived, a dark haired college student wearing a hoodie behind her.

“Oh hey Yaoyorozu-san! Welcome, you’re the last ones here.”

“My apologies,” said the man, “we would have gotten here sooner but we arrived at the station just as our train was pulling out, so we had to wait for several minutes. Yaoyorozu Yuri by the way, Momo-chan’s elder brother.” Yuri offered Izuku his hand.

“Midoriya Izuku,” he said, shaking the man’s hand. “Please come in, and apologies about the racket coming from the living room.”

“Ha! There’s what, 19 teenagers in a room together? I’d expect nothing less.”

The trio made their way in, seeing the class having set up an impromptu Hero Smash Ultimate tournament on a console Kaminari had brought and was currently dominating in. Izuku noticed a look pass Momo’s face and placed a hand on her shoulder, stopping her.

“He already explained,” Izuku said quietly, “and he doesn’t wanna go over it again. Just know that not all of the villains made it out of USJ, and we’ll leave it at that.”

Momo nodded in understanding. “Speaking of, how are you handling things?”

“Honestly? Surprisingly well, all things considered. I was more bored than anything else before you guys started coming over.”

Momo looked around for a moment, confirming something to herself before speaking just loud enough for Izuku to hear. “Even though your father was involved?”

“Is this another joke about my dad being All Might and that’s why I live in his tower?” Izuku said dismissively. “Because I’ve already said that my mom and I moved out during the divorce and All Might offered to let us stay here for cheap.”

“No,” Momo said, somehow quieter than before. “I mean your biological father. The one who was on the side of the villains.”

‘What?’ Izuku thought in horror.

‘How the fuck did she figure that out!?’ Daigoro exclaimed.

‘Her family are billionaires,’ Bruce pointed out. ‘You don’t get that kinda money without doing some shady shit.’

‘What are the odds her family’s got some sorta deal with him then?’ Daigoro growled.

‘It would’ve come up during Eighth’s investigations into his shell companies and income sources,’ Higake said. ‘There is no way something as notable as Yaoyorozu Corp. would’ve been missed.’

‘Hold up, can’t she understand Izuku’s mumblestorms?’ En asked. ‘Maybe he said something during one of them.’

‘During the shitstorm at the USJ Ninth was on the boat,’ Kudo said, voice cold and firm. ‘He had a mumblestorm, I don’t know what he was saying when but at the end he tripped on his own words for a second, finishing the rant soon after and realizing Zen’s involvement. Rich bitch over there was standing right next to Ninth and would’ve absolutely heard whatever he said.’

‘Shit,’ Nana swore. ‘We got a leak, you’ll need to tell her more just to shut her up.’

‘But that doesn’t mean she needs to be told the truth,’ Yoichi advised. ‘Izuku, listen, she already knows your father’s got connections to criminals and can get a bunch of mooks, some of which are actually really strong.’

Yoichi would have continued planning, but Momo smiled slightly. “Is there somewhere we can go and not be overheard?”

Izuku closed his mouth that he only now realized was left hanging. “R-right, uh, this way.”

Silently they made their way down the hall to his room. Closing the door behind him, Izuku let out a breath. “Between the walls and just how big the apartment is, even Jiro shouldn’t be able to hear us unless she’s really trying. Please, uh, take a seat.”

Momo sat on his bed, trying and failing to subtly check out the bedroom. Izuku silently thanked the ghosts that they’d convinced him to put most of his All Might merch away so that it didn’t look like a temple to the man. Turning the chair around, he sat and faced his vice rep and the first girl to ever see his room, and said the first thing that came to mind. “How’d you find out, err, wait no, what made you think my father was a criminal?”

Momo let out a silent chuckle. “You’re very bad at keeping it a secret; even if I didn’t know before I arrived today the fact you stared slack jawed at me for almost two minutes when I brought it up made it very obvious. In truth, I assumed he was a fairly notorious criminal, and that was why All Might of all people had something to do with your parent’s divorce, and that you couldn’t talk about it. Though, it wasn’t until the USJ that I learned he’d apparently seen All Might bleed before.”

That took Izuku aback for a moment, almost accidentally saying “I mentioned that during a mumblestorm!?”

“Yes you did,” Momo said. “And I’m concerned as to how that transpired.”

Izuku took a deep breath before continuing. “Do you remember a few years back there was a supervillain that called himself Toxic Chainsaw? Heteromorph, almost as tall as All Might, needle like teeth, chainsaw blades he could extend out of each of his limbs, each tipped with neurotoxin?”

“I can’t say that I recall all the details, but the name is familiar.”

“Six years ago he fought All Might and was sent to Tartarus. Afterwards, All Might took a month off, saying that it was so he could celebrate his best friend’s anniversary. If you dig through the forums far enough you’ll find debates about if the two are connected or not. They’re not, but that’s not to say All Might left the fight unharmed. They were no worse than papercuts, but he was injured enough to bleed.”

“Was this Toxic Chainsaw your father?”

Izuku looked up in confusion. “What? No, no, my father breathes fire, if he was Toxic Chainsaw my parent’s would’ve divorced years ago. No, my father was the brains behind Chainsaw’s rampage, and he was present for their final fight. He saw All Might bleed, but managed to escape afterwards. He was also involved with the USJ attack, though this time he wasn’t on the scene.”

“And you’re certain of this?”

“When the leaders were fleeing, Shigaraki mentioned rescuing the nomu, who was a physical bruiser, not a fire breather. If my father was on site, his subordinates would have absolutely mentioned rescuing him.”

“Shigaraki’s sensei…” Momo said in horrified awe.

“Probably, yes.” Izuku huffed. ‘Thank fuck she bought the lie.’

‘All the best lies have at least a grain of truth in them,’ Yoichi mused, ‘and what you told her is more truth than lie.’

‘More a lie of omission, if that,’ Nana said.

‘But the bits about Toxic Chainsaw?’

‘The truth, even if you didn’t know it.’ Hikage said. ‘I’m impressed.’

Before anything else could be said on the topic, there was a knock on the door. Izuku quickly answered it to see Ochako standing on the other side. “Ochako-chan, what’s up?”

Rather than answer, Ochako looked around him into the room. For a moment, a look of anger passed her face before she forcibly smothered it and finally looked at Izuku. “Just checking up on you. Someone saw you and Yaoyorozu-san coming back here, and I wanted to see what you were up to.”

“We were merely discussing what happened yesterday,” Momo assured her. “Nothing more.”

“Are you sure?” Ochako said, clearly upset.

“Of course Ochako-chan, what else would we be talking about?” Izuku asked innocently.

‘The fact they have—’ Daigoro began.

‘NO THEY DO NOT!!!’ Izuku silently yelled before shoving him in a box.

Momo cleared her throat. “I, could explain what else she might think we were talking about, but only if Uraraka-san is ok with it, and with me explaining why this upsets her so much.”

This made Ochako’s face turn as red as the other girl’s hero costume. “What? No, I’m perfectly fine with it, wh-what made you think I wasn’t? No go right ahead, tell him if you want I don’t mind, I’m just gonna go, uh, do a thing bye!” Before Izuku could do anything, she’d turned and ran away, leaving him dumbfounded.

“I will be taking that as a no then,” Momo said.

“Wha-bu-no please I have no idea what’s going on and why my best friend is suddenly upset about something, can you at least give me an idea?” Izuku asked.

‘Dense as a fucking black hole,’ Yoichi said before joining Daigoro in the box.

Momo stood up and approached the door. “What I believe was upsetting her was that she believed I was confessing my feelings for you, feelings which I believe she shares but, based on her recent actions, does not realize or at least is not comfortable confronting yet. Quite understandable, considering we’ve only been in class together since Monday, and today is Friday.”

Izuku’s mind was blank, too stunned to even maintain the box he’d shoved Yoichi and Daigoro into. “C-confess? Feelings?”

“Hmm? Did you really not realize?” Despite herself, Momo’s face was growing pinker. “Indeed, I uh, I like you, um romantically, I mean. This doesn’t have to mean anything if you don’t want it too though, and you’re clearly not used to the idea, so um, yeah I’m going back to the living room if you need anything!” Momo, face now as red as Ochako’s had been, quickly made her way out of the room in a haste, leaving Izuku alone and shell shocked.

The voices in his head were discussing something, though Izuku couldn’t make out what, too consumed by his own mind as he made his way to his bed, laid down, grabbed his pillow, and screamed as loud and as long as he could manage.

Chapter Text

Izuku sat in his chair, slouched down and pointedly looking down at his desk as he wrote his notes. Behind him sat an empty desk once belonging to a monument of everything he despised about masculinity, and behind that sat one of the girls he had feelings for, both of whom apparently shared his feelings, and had told him such over the impromptu three day weekend they’d had.

Neither of whom Izuku had spoken to since, a fact that made their proximity all the more daunting. Even more so because it appeared the rest of the class was aware of the situation, if the muttering and sideways glances he was getting were anything to go off of.

‘For what it’s worth,’ En said, ‘your form for “attempted disappearance while stuck sitting” is excellent.’

‘How can you tell how good a job he’s doing?’ Nana asked, confused.

‘You’d be surprised how often situations that call for it come up as an underground hero,’ En explained.

‘Uh, thanks for the compliment?’ Izuku said. ‘I’ve had lots of practice.’

‘Bullying?’ Yoichi asked.

‘Bullying,’ Izuku said with a slight nod. ‘If I stuck out at all it’d get so much worse.’

‘Fortunately it doesn’t appear that that will be a problem any longer,’ Hikage said. ‘Though now we’re confronted with a whole new one. Yaoyorozu-san seems the type to just sit back and let you come to terms with her confession, but Uraraka-san? You’ve got till lunch before she confronts you about it.’

‘Her or one of your classmates,’ En said.

Izuku took a deep breath, held it for a moment, and silently screamed as loud as possible. ‘AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Holy fucking shit there is no way this happened. Did I do something wrong? I must’ve manipulated them somehow, there’s not other possible reason they could think they’re into me, I need to fix—’

‘SHUT UP, NOW!’ roared Daigoro, momentarily silencing his spiraling.

‘Ok, seriously, we were willing to at least begrudgingly deal with you denying the possibility of this happening before you were told,’ Kudo growled, ‘but now? What the hell is wrong with you?’

‘I’m a pathetic, worthless deku, there’s no way anyone could ever be interested in me, so I must’ve—’

‘Firstly, you clearly have several women interested in you,’ Nana interrupted. ‘Secondly, This is what, the second time you’ve called yourself a deku? What’s that even supposed to mean?’

‘It’s a nickname Kacchan gave me when we were kids. It’s one of the ways you can read my name, and it means useless, so…’

Kudo growled something in English that was probably very mean, but Izuku couldn’t understand it. ‘Kid, stop calling yourself that, now. It’s not true, it never was, and it sure as shit isn’t now that you’ve got arguably the most powerful quirk in the world.’

‘Which only makes it worse because they know how strong I am, Ocahako-chan was there for my full power, and Yaoyorozu-san knows what I can do. What if they’re only saying they like me like that because they’ve picked up on my crush on them and are afraid of what I might do?’

‘That’d be hilarious if it weren’t so depressing,’ Nana said. ‘Izuku, I’ve been on the other end of a situation like that, back before I got One for All. They wouldn’t be acting like how they have been around you if they thought you were at all pressuring them.’

‘But—’

‘No buts!’ Kudo barked. ‘You ain’t doin this shit on purpose, you’re just being yourself, and clearly they’re into that. So shut up and accept that. I’m not lookin for you to become cassanova or some shit, I’m asking you to take what has been given to you that you fucking earned and not doubt every second where you went wrong that you’re now living every teenager’s dream.’

Izuku closed his eyes and rested his head on his desk as he took that in.

‘That has got to be both the most aggressive yet helpful thing I’ve ever heard you say,’ Hikage said, genuinely impressed.

‘I’m sick and tired of his self-loathing pity party,’ Kudo explained. ‘Fucker needed his shit straightened out.’

Someone said something Izuku couldn’t hear and Yoichi chuckled.

As Izuku was about to ask what it was, Aizawa came in and stood behind the podium.

“Sensei!” Ilda shouted from his seat. “I commend you for being able to make it out of that gauntlet uninjured!”

“Ilda, sit down. If anything I should be congratulating all of you for managing the same. I’ve been a hero almost as long as you’ve been alive, that wasn’t my first group fight, and it won’t be my last. You lot on the other hand have only ever been in one fight with quirks before, more of which were solo or even number battles. The fact there’s still 19 people in my class is a miracle, and I commend you for it.”

“Aizawa-sensei, are you congratulating us?” Toru asked, her smile invisible but very audible as she rose up out of her seat. “Look at you, being a softy!”

The teacher’s hair rose as his glare hardened, silencing her back into her chair.

Blinking and letting his hair drop, he continued. “That said, I wouldn’t shame you for wanting to drop out, and Nezu-sama’s agreed that if any of you decide you want out, you’ll be either transferred to general studies or given your tuition back with a glowing letter of recommendation from the school. Additionally, anyone who stays will be required to schedule a meeting with Hound Dog, the school counsellor and resident therapist. You went through something highly traumatic, so I won’t hear any complaints.”

There was a murmur from the class that sounded vaguely like “Yes Sensei.”

Aizawa nodded. “Now, moving on, the sports festival is two weeks from now.”

The class was calm for a moment, before bursting into chaos.

“Pfft! Talk about whiplash!” Toru exclaimed.

“I almost forgot this is a regular school!” Kaminari laughed.

“I pray the villains do not see this as an opportunity to strike once more,” Shiozaki said, hands clasped in prayer.

“You and me both,” Aizawa said, looking at her. “To try and prevent that, we’re quintupling security, and several top heroes will be in attendance, as well as all of UA’s staff. If anyone tries anything, they’ll be dealt with in under a minute.”

“Plus, I doubt the League would even be able to try again so soon,” Sero said. “Yaoyorozu-san mentioned that Midoriya-kun damn near punched their leader’s hand clean off. It’ll be a few weeks at least before they can get a prosthetic.”

“Unless they have a healing quirk,” Shoda said out of the corner of his mouth.

“Come on, those are stupid rare and I’m pretty sure they’re all on a list somewhere, there’s no way they could go rogue!” Kaminari said.

“The same’s true for warp quirks,” Jiro all but muttered, quieting the room once more.

“All of you, I know it’s hard, but believe me, the school will make sure everything is dealt with. Nezu-sama is the smartest being on the planet, and he’s got two weeks to prepare for the worst, and the national diet throwing as much money as needed at making sure the event goes off without a hitch. What you need to be focusing on is the fact every hero in the country worth their salt will be watching the festival, and that you’ll be going on internships the week after. This is your first chance to catch their attention, and you’re only going to get two more after this. Make it count.”

From there, the class continued on as normal, Izuku’s classmates thankfully more focused on classes and the upcoming sports festival instead of what they’d been murmuring when the class began.

Izuku was silently thanking this change of pace until lunch where, as he sat at the table he, Ilda, and Ochako had claimed as theirs, Yaoyorozu sat down across from him, where Ilda normally sat.

“My apologies,” the heiress said, “but Jiro-chan said that she and Ilda-kun were working on something, and suggested I come sit here.”

‘That’s fucking bullshit and she knows it,’ Daigoro said.

‘Thank you captain obvious,’ Nana snarked.

For several minutes, the trio just sat in silence, quietly eating their lunch.

Eventually, Ochako let out a huff and stilled her chopsticks. “So uh, Izuku-kun,” she began, clearly nervous as she pointedly looked away from him, “Yaoyorozu-san mentioned what she told you on Friday. Have you uh, had the chance to think it over at all?”

Izuku froze, his jaw clenching for a moment. Taking a deep breath in, he finally spoke, his voice near a whisper and far higher pitch than normal. “Um, yes I have, and I uh, sorry, um, but I kinda like both of you? I’m so sorry. But uh, I didn’t know what to do, so I kinda asked my family for advice, and uh, turns out my uncle is actually part of a polycule? Like he’s got two husbands, both of whom are also married to each other, with one of them also having a wife and kids.”

“How does that work?” Yaoyorozu asked, leaning forward.

Startled out of his spiral, Izuku returned to his normal state. “Uh, sorry, yeah they said it takes communication, like any relationship, but exponentially more than a monogamous one. Other than that and needing a calendar app to keep track of who’s sleeping in who’s bed every night, they say it’s pretty normal.”

Ochako snorted. “A calendar app? Really?” she asked, barely not laughing.

“Hey, after a long day it can be easy to forget,” Izuku smiled. “Heck, do you remember what you had for dinner last night?”

There was a flash of concern across Ochako’s face, but it faded quickly. “Ok fine, I guess one could be useful.”

“Though only if the polycule is rather large,” Yaoyorozu interjected. “With only three people, even if we do end up going that far, that shouldn’t be a problem.”

Izuku startled back, his voice slowly growing higher and quieter. “So uh, I take it that’s not a problem for you?”

“There is a reason my parents did a paternity test on me when I was a child,” Yaoyorozu said as if that wasn’t a bombshell. “None of my parent’s flings lasted very long, but none the less.”

Ochako looked on in shock, shaking her head. “Fucking rich people,” she muttered under her breath.

Yaoyorozu giggled. “Oh make no mistake, they are something of an oddity among the wealthy, though that’s a story for another time. But what about you Uraraka-san? How do you feel about this development?”

Ochako blushed and began scratching at the back of her head. “Um, well, I have some questions, like, if we do this, does that mean Yaoyorozu-chan and I are dating? Because I don’t even know if I like girls like that.”

Izuku’s uncles laughed. ‘Oh baby poly people are so naïve,’ Yochi said.

“Not unless you want,” Izuku said, hands raised in defense. “And uh, if either of you ended up dating someone other than me while we’re together, I wouldn’t be with them either.”

“So we’re free to have other partners?” Ochako clarified. “This isn’t a harem situation?”

“Oh absolutely not! I’m so sorry for ever making you think that it was! I swear I’m not—”

“Izuku-kun, it’s fine,” Yaoyorozu said, placing her hand on Izuku’s shoulder. “It was a simple misunderstanding that’s already been clarified. No need to worry about it. But Uraraka-chan, do you have any other questions?”

“Uh, only if it’s ok if I set rules in case Izuku-kun wants to have a third.”

“Of course, though I’d like to do the same if you want a second at any point. According to my uncles my rules are pretty basic stuff, like getting permission before getting another, not flirting with people you’re not dating in front of me, not Frenching me right after Frenching another one of your partners, stuff like that.”

“Frenching?” Yaoyorozu asked.

“Kissing with tongue, aka French kissing,” Ochako explained. “Yes to all three of those rules, and a few that won’t come into play unless we start, ya know.” She made a circle with one hand and ran a finger from the other in and out a few times. Both Yaoyorozu and Izuku immediately turned red as the vestiges slammed up the barrier between them and Izuku.

“Oh yeah no not ready for that for a while!” Izuku asked in falcedo. “But uh, warn me before you do anything along that line, ok?”

“Likewise,” Yaoyorozu said, fanning her face with her hand. “But uh, while we’re discussing ground rules, I would like to know who my metamours are before they become my metamours, alright?”

“I doubt that’ll ever come up on my end,” Izuku said, much to the chagrin of his headmates, “but sure.”

“Hold on, metamours?” Ochako asked.

“The other people in a relationship with your partner, so my uncle’s metamour would be his husband’s wife, or if I’m understanding this entire conversation correctly and you’re both down for it, you would be each other’s.”

“I believe I’ve made it abundantly clear that I have no problem with this,” Momo said.

“And as long as we’re given equal treatment,” Ochako said with no small amount of side eye, “then I’m willing to at least try it out.”

Izuku couldn’t stop the smile off his face for the rest of lunch, his new girlfriends returning the gesture, the trio’s smiles growing wider as they made their way back to class, hand in hand in hand.

Izuku spent the rest of the day on cloud nine, only falling off it at the end of the day when Ochako opened the door to reveal seemingly a wall to wall mass of students, none of whom were moving a centimeter, all of whom were turned to look at the class.

“Whoa, what the fudge!?” Ochako exclaimed, barely keeping herself from swearing.

“Excuse us!” Ilda chopped. “You are blocking the exit, preventing us from getting lunch! Might I ask that you continue on wherever you were going?”

“They’re probably scoping out the class,” Shoda thought aloud. “It’s really rare for anyone not from a hero class to do well in the sports fest, and we’ve got a lot more experience than normal after USJ. It’s basically guaranteed that one of us will win this year.”

There was a murmur among the gathered students at Shoda’s words before one boy stepped up, looking like a younger version of Aizawa if he’d dyed his hair purple.

“I came to see what you hero students were made of,” the boy said, “but I wasn’t expecting you to be this arrogant. Are you aware how lucky you all are? Not everyone’s born with an amazing quirk that works no matter what. Some of us need stuff to actually use our quirks on, and if it’s not there we get stuck in the gen ed or business courses. Of course, the school knows this, and so they give us a way out. If we do well enough in the sports fest, and a hero student does shit enough, we can take their spot. And given some of the things the news has been saying,” the boy shrugged and gestured wide as Izuku scowled. “This is as much scoping out the competition as it is a declaration of war.”

Silently, Izuku took out his phone and began to record a video, trying to angle the camera up toward the student’s faces. As he ran the camera over the group, a boy with sharp teeth and spikey blood red hair spoke out. “Hey dude, come on! It’s not manly to be mad at them just cause they got to fight villains! If anything they’d be kinda messed up by it!”

“Quite the contrary Kirishima,” a plain looking blonde boy standing next to him said. “If our sister class is so confident in their success, then it’s only fair that they be reminded that they can still fail, both physically and—”

He was cut off by a slap to the back of his head from an unlikely source. “Can it Copycat!” barked 1-B’s explosive pomeranian. “Use your fucking eyes! They just got attacked by villains trying to kill All Might, and how many people are in there? I only count 19. Our class has 20.”

The crowd was silent, several taking a step back, horrified looks on their faces.

Izuku stepped forward.

Holding up his phone were the whole crowd could see, he silently turned it, catching all their faces in the recording.

It was only when the phone was lowered that he spoke again, this time in his deeper, natural voice. “Thank you Kacchan. Yes, our class had 20 students in it when school started. Yes, we’re down to 19. Yes, the villains who attacked the USJ tried to kill us. Yes, we defended ourselves. No, not all of the villains made it out. No, none of our classmates died. No, that doesn’t change the fact that we could have died, and were all messed up by that fact. There is an opening in our class, and it will be filled by whichever non-hero student does the best at the sports fest if they’re interested. But that doesn’t mean they’ll get to keep it.”

“Do you want to know how we actually lost a classmate? While you were all attending orientation, our teacher had us do a test. The one who did the worst was expelled on the spot. And every day since, we’ve had to fight to keep our spot in this class! If you think that just because you do well in the sports festival that you’re guaranteed to keep the open seat, I want you to ask 2-A how that went for them. Most of the class was expelled before their sports festival, and their replacements? Didn’t last a week. The whole class didn’t last that week actually; there is no class 2-A, they all got expelled within a month. All by the same man who’s now teaching our homeroom and heroics class.”

“And that’s what he did to students trying to be heroes he knew wouldn’t make it. I wouldn’t want to be you when he sees people like you, people who already failed to be heroes once, throwing the trauma of those who he knows can directly into their faces.” Izuku turned the phone around, showing to the crowd the recording of all of them standing outside the door.

“But I wasn’t expecting you to be this arrogant,” came the voice of the boy with purple hair before Izuku stopped the video and went to his messaging app.

“Now get out of our way before I send this to our teacher.”

Izuku let out an amused sigh as the crowd bolted, their terrified faces bringing a slight smile to his own.

‘Is it bad that I’m enjoying them being afraid of me?’ asked the son of the symbol of fear.

‘You wouldn’t be the only one,’ his uncle replied with a smile all too like his brother’s.

Chapter Text

Katsuki let out a breath as he looked at the door before him. Right there, on the plaque on the wall, that he couldn’t take his eyes off of.

Inui Ryo
Hunting Dog Hero: Hound Dog
Guidance Counsellor
Licensed Therapist

If anyone asked Katsuki, he would swear up and down that he wasn’t afraid, and that he had no problem with the counsellor, he was just early for his appointment and didn’t want to start this shit show before absolutely necessary. Some part of Katsuki even believed it.

But another part, a part that had grown every day since the vampire and the rat came to his house to have a chat, recognized that it was a lie. He was one fuck up away from expulsion, and if he stopped holding himself back, thought for even a second that he wasn’t walking on eggshells, he’d do something they thought was wrong without even realizing it and get expelled. And if he did, what then? 

He’d focused so hard on becoming a hero at UA he didn’t even know if there were any other options. There probably were other hero schools, but they’d see in his records why he got kicked out of UA and would start treating him like a plague carrier. And if he couldn’t become a hero, there was nothing left for him. He had nothing else. All that he was was a hero hopeful. If he couldn’t do that, would he even be the same person anymore?

Katsuki wasn’t sure. He just knew that aside from the rat, there was no one in this school with more control over him than the counsellor.

Letting out another breath to try and settle himself, Katsuki checked his phone. Less than a minute before he was supposed to start. Might as well get this shit over with.

Carefully, Katsuki knocked on the door, paranoid thoughts of if he was knocking too hard running rampant through his head.

“Come in,” said the hero, amused about something. Katsuki complied, closing the door behind him and taking a seat in the chair closest to the door.

As he gripped the chair’s armrests, Katsuki noticed the hero’s brow narrowed. A shiver went down his spine as he wondered what’d he’d done to already piss the dog off just by sitting down. He was tempted to ask, but thought better of it. Speaking out of turn would always make his shouting matches with his mom worse, no doubt it was probably the same now.

“Welcome back Bakugo-kun,” Hound Dog said, his tone neutral. “How was your week? Do anything interesting with your impromptu three day weekend?”

“It was alright sir,” Katsuki said, his tone even but tinged with fear, “and no sir, nothing interesting. Stayed in my room and did homework.”

“Just homework, for three days?” Hound Dog questioned, his brow narrowing again. Katsuki flinched and held still, not even breathing. Hound Dog noticed this and leaned back in his chair. “Ok kid, be honest, the fuck happened in the last week? Last time we talked you were barely keeping yourself from screaming to the heavens how you were the best thing since sliced bread, and now you look like you’re about to jump outta your skin.

“Uh, sir, didn’t I upset you somehow? Just now when I came in you sounded happy, but by the time I sat down you looked pissed off.”

“I wasn’t mad, I was confused about the drastic shift in character.”

Katsuki let out a deep, shaky breath. “Last week I thought that if I held myself back, followed the lead of other people, and kept myself and my classmates out of trouble I’d eventually get off probation and I’d be able to breathe for once. Yesterday me and a couple of my classmates were on our way to the gym when we passed 1-A, the class with,” Katsuki swallowed, “him, in it.”

“You mean Midoriya-kun, right?”

“Yeah, him. Well, there was this huge group of ex-of people outside the door. They were talking shit, and Copycat decided to be an idiot and join in, so I told him to shut up, cause what the fuck. But then, he came out. Recorded the whole exchange on his phone. Threatened to show it to his teacher. Said he’d expelled everyone in last years class in just a month. I was there, he even called me out by name. If he ever leaks it, I’m fucked, I’m done, I can kiss my whole fucking life goodbye.”

“That’s not true, you’re only 15, you’ve got plenty of time to figure things out even if being a hero doesn’t work out.”

“No I don’t!” Katsuki interrupted. “I’ve spent my whole life dedicated to becoming the number one hero! I study so I can get good grades and keep up with the coursework here at UA, I work out constantly so I’m not a sitting duck if I can’t use my quirk, and I’ve trained my quirk so many times my parents are literally on a first name fucking basis with some of the local EMTs and firefighters! That’s it, that’s all I ever do! If I can’t be a hero, my life is ruined!”

Hound Dog rang a bell on his desk and Katsuki froze, eyes wide in terror.

“It’s alright, you don’t need to worry about the bell, I just wanted to speak.”

“Shit I interrupted you, am I—”

“No, you’re not going to get in trouble for it,” Hound Dog interrupted. “If anything, I think it was very enlightening. Honestly I was tempted to let you keep going, but I got the feeling that if I had you’d start saying more things that are objectively untrue. Firstly, if you fuck up and get kicked out, your life won’t be ruined,” he held up a finger before Katsuki could say anything more, “it would just go down a path that you hadn’t expected. But even if you do become a hero, there’s something you need to understand that right now you don’t. Being a hero is just a job. A very demanding job, sure, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, but it’s just what you do for work, and there’s this thing I don’t think you’ve ever heard about before. It’s called a work-life balance. And you need one. I’ve met several heroes who were just like you, throwing their all into being a hero while completely disregarding everything outside it. They either A) suffer from burnout and either retire or fix their shit before they turn 30, B) give themselves depression from how much they hate their lives, or C) run themselves ragged and get themselves killed by a purse snatcher in five years or less. Do any of those sound like something you want?”

Katsuki held back a scoff. “All Might hasn’t been seen outside his hero persona since before I was born.”

Ryo had to physically bite his tongue to keep from saying too much. “All Might has also taken great effort to keep his personal life out of the public eye. I can’t tell you more, but I’ve got some films I could give that might give you a vague impression, if you want. A couple of videogames and shows too, might even be able to find a few novels, depending on what you’re into.”

Katsuki leaned forward in his chair. “Fuck yes, lemme just get something to write their names on.”

Ryo held up a finger. “No, because some of these can be a bit much and maybe even boring if you’re not a fan of their genres and mediums. I’m not Cementoss, I’m not gonna have you reading Miyazawa Kenji if you’re not into poetry.”

Katsuki heard himself chuckle before he could stop it. “Thank you, and uh I’ll just save you some time: poetry lessons were always the worst, at least before UA. So I guess that’ll be my homework for the week, figure out some media I enjoy and you’ll give me ones that vaguely hint at All Might’s homelife?”

“In addition to what I told you to do last week, yes.” Hound Dog smiled, though it wasn’t like Katsuki could see it. “Any movement on figuring out what to call Midoriya-kun?”

Katsuki clenched his jaw. “No sir, I haven’t spoken to him since the entrance exam. Didn’t really have time with USJ and everything. I was planning on talking to him yesterday, but he made the recording and just, yeah.”

“That’s fair. Now, sorry that our session has to end early, but everyone from 1-A is getting at least a few sessions with me this week.”

“Thank fuck,” Katsuki said under his breath as he stood up. “Same time next week then.”

He went to leave only to see the door already open, and standing on the other side was the person they’d just been discussing.

“Um, sorry I didn’t know there was someone here already,” Izuku said, nervously looking between Katsuki and Hound Dog. “My classmates said that this was the earliest session you had, so I thought you were free before now. I can come back later if you want?”

“No, my last session had just ended, please come in and have a seat,” Hound Dog said, carefully watching the two’s interactions.

Katsuki let out a breath. “Yeah, I’ll be going. Nice seeing you uh, fuck, what do you want me to call you?”

Izuku was stunned into silence, more rattled than if he’d been punched.

“Hmm? You gonna say something?” Katsuki asked, less aggressive than Izuku could ever recall seeing him.

“Y-yeah, I’m fine, just, I never thought, you are Kacchan, right?”

“Huh? The fuck? You get hit in the head or some shit? Course it’s me!”

“O-ok, but, firstly I never thought you’d need therapy, and now you’re asking me my name? Even though we’ve known each other since we were babies?”

Katsuki began rubbing the back of his neck. “So the rat thought something was fishy about our scores at the entrance exam and did some snooping. Looks like the people at Aldera were shit at their jobs and shoulda stopped me. They almost didn’t let me in, but—”

“How the?!” Izuku interrupted, confused. “They almost didn’t let you in!? But you’re going to be an amazing hero! How could they ever think to do that? Wait does my mom know about Aldera? OhnoIdidntwanttoworryherwhataboutherandAuntieMitzukisfriendshipAretheystilldoingwellIftheybothknowthenhavetheytalkedsinceIm—”

 “CAN IT NERD!” Katsuki yelled before quickly glancing back at the hero behind him. “Yes, Auntie Inko knows about everything. She wasn’t very happy to learn, I guarantee you, but she knows. Has she not told you about it? Seems like something she’d want to talk about.”

“No, this is the first I’ve heard of her knowing. When’d she find out?”

“’Bout a week after the entrance exam, when we found out I’d made it in, but listen. The kinda shit I did to you back then? If I weren’t a kid I’d’ve been sent to jail for 20 years, minimum. As it stands, I’m one fuck up, and staying how I was would absolutely count as a fuck up, away from having my life ruined. And one of the things they specifically called me out for is calling you the name I did. But we’re not friends, so I sure as shit can’t call you by your given name, and calling you Midoriya would be weird,” both of the boys made a face in agreement, “so what the fuck do you want me to call you?”

“I honestly didn’t have a problem with you calling me Deku,” Izuku said, making everyone in the room flinch, seemingly even including himself.

“What the?” Katsuki questioned. “Oi Hound Dog, you heard that right?”

“I did indeed, and will make sure to tell the appropriate channels about it,” Hound Dog said, more serious than the explosive teen had seen him all session. “Bakugo-kun, I’ll see you next week. Midoriya-kun, please, have a seat.”

Katsuki quickly left the room, leaving Izuku behind to deal with both the guidance counsellor and his headmates, none of whom were happy with his answer to Katuki’s question.

‘What the fuck Izuku,’ Daigoro hissed, ‘dude gives you the chance to tell him to his face to stop calling you worthless, and you just let him keep going?’

‘No,’ Nana commanded. ‘I am putting my foot down, you are not letting him call you that anymore.’

‘Seriously Nine,’ Bruce said. ‘You better fucking tell him to call you something else.’

‘Like how I told you to use my name and not call me by my number?’ Izuku thought as he sat down.

“Sorry for that little exchange,” Hound Dog said. “Scheduling’s gone out the window after USJ.”

“It’s fine, though I don’t know how much you can help me with,” Izuku said, ignoring the ghosts.

“Quite a bit probably, I mean it must’ve been a pretty rough day for you.”

“Ehh, that’s the most gore I’ve ever seen in real life, but other than that it was pretty normal for a bad day at Aldera.”

Hound Dog looked at Izuku concerned. “The villains were there in part to kill you, and you’re saying that it was just a bad day at your old school?”

“Ok maybe not physically, because the bullies weren’t trying to go that far, but they would hurt me pretty bad, and the villains would’ve only hurt me a bit worse, so I just focused like I was fleeing from my bullies while using my new quirk. Oh you read my file and found out I’m a late bloomer, right?”

“Yes I have, and even if I hadn’t, your mother and homeroom teacher talk quite a lot about you.”

“Ok, so you understand why I’m used to not needing to hold back when escaping. But that’s not why I said you probably wouldn’t be able to help me deal with anything more I picked up from the attack, or honestly most of the mental issues I’m only now realizing I have.”

‘Your welcome for that,’ En said.

“What makes you say that?”

“Most of them can either be traced back to Kacchan and my old schools, who you’re already helping with, or to my father who,” Izuku let out a sigh as he rubbed his neck. “So he left my mom and I when I was little when I was diagnosed as quirkless. He said he’d gotten a job working in America as an accountant, but that was a lie. It gets, so much worse, but I can’t explain without All Might’s permission, since my father’s part of an ongoing investigation. What I can say is that he’s a villain.”

“Alright, I’ll talk with All Might about that then, see what he’s willing to tell me. In the meantime, going back a bit, you’re ok with Bakugo-kun calling you Deku?”

“As long as he’s just using it as a nickname, not an insult, it’s fine. Actually, when I was in middle school, we were doing a poetry lesson in Literature class, and the lesson happened to be on Miyasawa Kenji, and his poem Be not Defeated by the Rain . All my classmates made sure to point out that one of the lines had Deku in it, saying how I must be excited to see my name in a poem. But uh, have you ever read the poem yourself?”

“I have, though give me one moment as I don’t have it memorized.” As he spoke, Hound Dog typed away at his computer. “Ah here it is. Near the bottom, it goes ‘Called useless by all/Neither praised/Nor a bother/Such is the person/I wish to be.’ I take it that you feel this sentiment?”

“Yeah, it really helped me out. Like I know the teacher did it so the other kids would pick on me, but it just, it seems like the sentiment a hero should have, shouldn’t it?”

“I agree,” Hound Dog said, his voice smiling, “though there are some parts that I’d like to talk with you about, alright?”

Chapter Text

Bakugo Mitsuki looked up from her phone and down at the stadium before them. Only a few more minutes before the UA Sports Festival would begin. Hopefully her idiot son wouldn’t make a fool of himself on national television, or worse, do something that would get him thrown in the jail cell that already had his name on it.

Sitting beside her, her husband saw something and spoke up, waving as he did. “Ah, Inko! So glad to see you!”

“Masaru, Mitsuki, it’s been too long!” Inko said with a smile as she and an incredibly tall skeleton of a man walked through the stadium together.

“You’ll have to thank my demon brat for that,” Mitsuki said with a frown.

“Once again,” Masaru said as he rose to his feet, “We are so incredibly sorry for not seeing it before it got that bad.”

“And once again,” Inko said, clearly amused, “I’m saying that your first apology was enough, just work with UA to make sure he doesn’t do it again.”

“And on that front,” the blonde skeleton said, “they’ve been doing quite well. I’ve heard from Hound Dog and All Might that young Bakugo has made outstanding growth in an astonishingly short period of time.”

“You know All Might?” Mitsuki asked, standing up as well.

“Ah, yes, my apologies. My name is Yagi Toshinori, I’m All Might’s secretary.” He pulled out a business card and handed it to Mitsuki. “It was actually through my employer that I met Inko-san here.”

Mitsuki raised an eyebrow, but before she could say anything her husband spoke up. “Inko-chan, you know All Might?” Masaru asked, impressed.

Inko let out a sigh. “Yes. Remember how I divorced Hizashi?”

“And not a day too soon,” Mitsuki said, shaking her head.

“Yes, honestly I agree with you I should have done it sooner, but I didn’t realize that until All Might showed up at my house to tell me he was investigating Hizashi for being connected to certain criminal activities I can’t talk about.”

The Bakugos were left aghast. “What!?” Mitsuki asked. “Like, I knew he was scum cause he left you over Izuku-kun’s quirk, but I never thought he was a criminal! The fuck did he do?! Shit, right, sorry, you literally just said you can’t talk about it. But are you safe? Did All Might catch him?”

“Unfortunately no,” Yagi said, “Midoriya Hizashi, which as we recently learned was a pseudonym, is still at large. Their safety at risk, I suggested to All Might that Ink-san and young Midoriya move into Might Tower, so as to prevent Hizashi from showing up at their homes one day and doing as he pleased. It was during the move that Inko-san and I met, and it is also due to this move that she has been unable to see the pair of you in person for some time, and for that I must apologize.”

“You moved, and you didn’t tell us?”

“It was just supposed to be temporary since we didn’t know for certain, but then we found out about Hizashi and then the divorce and I needed to find a new job since Hizashi knew what hospital I was working at, and just, I’m so sorry by the time everything settled down it had slipped my mind.”

 “That’s perfectly fine Inko-chan, but you found a new job?”

“I’m working as Recovery Girl’s assistant now, since she’s 87 years old and could use the help.”

“Oof, holy fuck how the hell is she still working as a hero then?”

“She almost exclusively works as UA’s nurse, occasionally working at some of the hospitals in Mustufar. She’s also the self-appointed personal physician of All Might, showing up at whatever hospital he’s at.”

“And giving him quite the lecture when he tries to go to anyone else,” Yagi said with a small smile that hid the phantom remembrance of how many times his shins had been bashed in. “But if you’d like to discuss more, feel free to come with us to the VIP room. There’s actually several, but the one we were going to is reserved for UA staff and their invitees however, so if you want to come you’ll have to join us now.”

“We’d be delighted,” Masaru said with a slight bow.

As the four made their way, Mitsuki made sure to hold Inko back slightly. “So, Yagi-san. I noticed he calls you Inko-san. Anything you want to tell me about that?” she asked with a smirk.

Immediately, Inko’s face turned pink. “Ah, well, err, um…”

Mitsuki laughed, clapping her friend on the back. “Divorced for not even two months and already back in the dating pool?”

“Ok but you said yourself that Hizashi left me a decade ago,” Inko said under her breath, “so it’s not that bad.”

“So you two are an item then? How long’ve you been together?”

“Technically we’re not, since our first date is a little under two weeks from now, during Golden Week. I haven’t told Izuku though, he’d, I don’t know how he’d react, but most of them can be summed up as ‘not well.’”

“Psh, yeah right, he’d be ecstatic to find out about it. Free All Might merch for life.”

Inko chuckled, but said nothing, her mind elsewhere.

——————————

“Everyone!” Ilda barked to the waiting room 1-A had all been gathered in. “We’re set to enter in a matter of minutes! Does anyone require assistance with their preparations?”

“We should be good,” Shoda said. “Sucks that we can’t wear our suits though.”

“I mean, they’ve got armor and are designed to help our quirks,” Ojiro said, “and the other classes don’t have them so, it makes sense.”

“I know but like, can’t they at least let me have my shoes!?” Kaminari asked.

“Enough of that,” Ochako said with a stern face as she stared off at the door. “This is the sports fest. We need to crush it.”

“Seriously girl, what’s with the serious face?” Mina asked.

“Pros are going to be watching us, seeing who they might want to intern, or maybe even become their sidekicks in a few years. And beyond that, the sponsors are watching.” Ochako continued on, muttering under her breath too quiet for those without superhearing to understand her.

“Is your mumbling contagious?” Tetsutetsu asked Izuku.

“If it were, I would have caught it from either him or my brother by now,” Momo said. “Though I’m curious as to why she would bring up sponsors.”

Izuku waved his phone up where Momo could see it before typing something out. A moment later Momo’s phone buzzed.

Green for All : Not everyone in class is wealthy
A few days ago I asked Ochako why she wanted to be a hero
Her parent’s construction company isn’t doing well
Hasn’t been for a while
She doesn’t want to talk about it, but that’s why she’s hyped on sponsors
I’m only telling you this since you’re my girlfriend. Don’t tell anyone else.

Princess Peach : Of course, my apologies.

Green for All : And she felt really bad when I offered to help her with it
Said she didn’t want to become a sugar baby.

Princess Peach : Are you saying that I shouldn’t use my fortune to help my friend and metamour, or that I should but be careful not to make it obvious?

Green for All : Sneaky. I told All Might and my mom about it and they’re pulling some strings with the school to help her.
If she asks, Nezu did it.

Momo snorted at that.

“Whatcha textin’ ‘bout?” Toru asked, leaning over Izuku’s shoulder.

“Nothing you need to worry about,” Momo said, changing to a different app on her phone as Izuku turned into a strawberry.

“Midoriya,” Todoroki said, approaching the boy, his face so grim Toru scurried away. “From an objective standpoint, I’m stronger than you, at least while you’re limited to just 2 percent of you power.”

“I’m somewhere between 4 and 5 now, actually.”

Todoroki’s frown grew deeper. “You over doubled your output in just a month?”

“I made just as much progress as I had the month before, so I’m not that surprised.”

Now the two-toned boy was scowling. “Then at this rate, you’ll have access to your full power around the time we’ll be eligible to be ranked. With that level of power, plus how close you are to All Might, I don’t see a world where you don’t have one of the highest ranks in the class. Better than anyone else in our class probably. Even by the next sports festival you’ll be at over half your max power, if not more. I don’t know if I’ll be able to take you on at that point, but today? I’m going to beat you.”

“Ok, what’s up with the declaration of war between our two strongest?” Kaminari asked.

“There is no need for belligerence at this time,” Ibara said. “We have less than a minute—”

“I’m not here to play nice and make friends,” Todoroki said with a voice as cold as his ice.

Izuku clenched his fists. “I have no idea how you expect me to react Todoroki-kun. You’re right, objectively you’re stronger than me as I am now, and by the time we’re able to get ranked I’ll be stronger than you, but even so, everyone, be they our classmates, those in our sister class, or even the people in the gen-ed course, are giving their all to win. It would be an insult to everyone on the field if I didn’t do the same.”

‘Are you intentionally throwing shade at him for not using his fire?’ En asked.

‘I only know about the fire because the voices in my head are also possessing our heroics teacher. No one else knows that he’s got his father’s flames.’

If Todoroki was going to respond, he was cut off by the class being summoned out to the arena.

As the class approached the tunnel out to the stadium’s main field, the loudspeakers crackled to life with Present Mic’s voice. “Everybody, are you ready!? It’s the UA Sports Festival, the one time of year where our heroes to be compete to see who’s at the top! First up, the class you’re all here to see, the legendary hero class who took on a small army of villains in just their first week of classes and walked away unscathed, class 1-A!”

The applause as the class walked out was near deafening, everyone around them turned to face them, small camera drones flittering about to put their image up on the screens throughout the stadium and in homes across Japan.

‘Fucking hell,’ Nana mused, ‘looks like they sold out! Toshi rarely watched the sports fest, but doesn’t it take till third year to pull that off?’

‘Yes, the main event is the third year’s turn the day after next, and it’s always been completely sold out,’ Izuku explained. “SecondyearusuallygetsaboutthreequartersfullunlesstheresabigshotamongtheherocourselikelastyearswinnerHadoNejireandsincefirstyearsareaboutaswelltrainedasabuffmiddleschoolerwerenormallyluckytogethalftheseatsfilledup.”

He was cut off from his muttering with Ochako gently tapping him on the shoulder. “Izuku-kun, 1-B’s about to come through,” she explained, pointing in the direction of one of the tunnels.

Finally focused back on reality, Izuku caught Present Mic’s next class intro. “Following behind in the alphabet but not in grit, 1-B!”

There was a noticeable drop in volume between the cheers for 1-A and their sister class. A trend that continued with the three gen-ed courses which were all lumped together in one announcement. There was a slight uptick for the support course classes, but the cheers had all but fallen off a cliff for the business course students.

‘What the hell, is a little equal treatment too much to ask for?’ Yoichi asked.

‘Yes actually.’ Izuku said, thinking back to some of the more notable events from his time in school before UA as the students all gathered in front of a stage, Midnight standing front and center.

With a crack of her whip, Midnight began to speak into a microphone. “Alright everyone, time for the Athlete’s Oath, presented by the first year representative, Midoriya Izuku!”

“How come he gets to do it?” someone from 1-B asked; Izuku wasn’t sure who it was, but from just a glance Bruce started singing something in German, maybe the opening to a mecha anime?

Kudo snorted. ‘You’re half right, at least. Look up Attack on Titan when you get home.’

To his pleasant amusement, Izuku saw Bakugo cuff his classmate’s shoulder before saying, if Izuku could still read lips, “Deku got the highest score at the entrance exam, he earned this.”

Letting out a short breath, Izuku gave a slight smile as he looked out over the crowd, first of the students in his year, then the spectators out in the stands, before he began to speak.

“Two weeks ago, a previously unknown group of villains attacked my class and tried to kill All Might.”

The stadium was silent.

“They failed, of course, but this was their main goal, the primary reason that whole attack happened.”

“Publicly at least.”

“I was there, and I can assure you, they weren’t just after All Might. They made it abundantly clear that they had no qualms with taking the lives of my classmates. Frankly, given how the villains I encountered acted, it seemed to me that the common thugs they got on their side were actually primarily there to murder a bunch of scared children taking their first step toward becoming heroes.”

“Some of you watching this may think that this was just pure barbarism, that the villains were little more than feral beasts finally let loose to slaughter. I can assure you, this is wrong. The human mind is hardwired to be repulsed at the idea of killing another human, something retained no matter how heteromorphic the killer’s quirk, and something only overcome in either the most twisted of individuals, who I should note are nowhere near common enough to have enough thugs to make up the villains who attacked the USJ, or those who were killing with another purpose in mind.”

“What could this purpose be?” Izuku scoffed. “They were afraid. This ‘League of Villains’ as they’re calling themselves, they, for all their bluster and bravado, couldn’t find any villains capable of taking on what were, quite frankly, glorified middle schoolers. They were afraid that we might become better heroes than Japan has seen since All Might’s debut.”

“And today we prove that they were right to be afraid!” Izuku said, arms thrown wide. “Not just my classmates in 1-A, but those in 1-B who have just as much if not more potential, those in the general education course looking forward to becoming our fellows, those in the support course building us the gear that will one day revolutionize hero costumes, and those in the business course who will be the backbone of not just our agencies and support companies, but of the whole economy, letting us focus on the villains without worry!”

“So let’s show them! Show them that it’ll take more than that to get rid of the smiles we’ll put on everyone’s faces, and that no matter how hard they try, we here at UA are going to go even further beyond, Plus Ultra!”

Izuku ended his speech by throwing his fist in the air, followed by Ochako and Momo’s, then several more students, then more, then spreading into the crowd, until as one everyone in the stadium called out as one “Plus Ultra!”

Midnight clapped as Izuku made his way back to his class. “An excellent speech, really gets the blood pumping!”

‘And one only practiced because we told him,’ Kudo snarked.

‘Yagi-sensei was going to remember eventually, he just heard I was doing my speech before he could.’

‘The look on his face when he realized we could still see through his eyes,’ En said with a smile. ‘Priceless.’

“Now without further delay!” Midnight continued. “It’s time for the first event of this years Sports Festival! An obstacle race around the perimeter of the stadium! All’s fair game so long as the students stay on the course! Students, to your positions!” She gestured to the newly opening hole in the wall leading out, with the students quickly walking over.

‘Gods, Float would trivialize this whole event,’ Izuku thought.

‘Well good news,’ Yoichi said, ‘you’ll be getting one of your predecessors’ meta ability soon.’

‘Bad news, it’ll be somewhere in the ballpark of a few hours to a little over a day,’ Nana said.

‘We also have no idea who’s it’ll be, and Seventh’s Float and my Blackwhip are both pains in the ass to figure out how to use.’

Izuku was about to fall down a rabbit hole of how exciting that was, but was cut off by Midnight snapping her whip and the surge of the students moving.

His first Sports Festival at UA had begun.

Chapter Text

Izuku immediately began glowing green as he charged forward toward the hallway leading to the obstacle course track. He quickly came out in front, narrowly avoiding the traffic jam that was forming behind him and letting him come out onto an open track filled with more of the robots he faced during the entrance exam.

Izuku paused for a moment, glancing around and inspecting the robots. Noting none of the robots were the rocket wielding 3-point variety, he went to continue and instead began flailing about as the ground had suddenly frozen.

The ice expanded as Todoroki ran past him, the rest of the students trailing further behind and in many cases frozen to the ground. Slamming his glowing foot into the ice, Izuku was able to break through and gain enough footing to continue running, right as he heard a familiar voice yell familiar words.

“Fuck you you half-and-half bastard! I ain’t lettin’ you out get ahead that easily!”

Smiling as he looked back, Izuku was glad to see not only Katsuki rocketing himself forward, but also Aoyama, Tokoyami, Momo, Ochako, and several of the students from 1-B using their quirks to escape from the tunnel.

‘Even that one asshole from the gen-ed courses is getting ahead,’ Nana noted.

‘Seems to be being lifted up by his friends,’ Izuku noted.

‘Something’s fishy about that,’ Yoichi commented. ‘Take a closer look at them.’

Sure enough, all the people hoisting the purple-haired boy like a palanquin had dull, vacant looks in their eyes.

‘Kid’s got a mind control quirk of some kind,’ Daigoro warned. ‘Never met one that didn’t have some sort of activation requirement, he can’t just do it by being in the same room. No idea what it is, but I’m guessing touch; all the kids are touching him, and unless they got got before the thing started they haven’t had much time for anything else.’

‘Staying away and avoiding him until we know more, got it.’ With a nod, Izuku ran forward, barely paying attention to Present Mic’s discussion of the “Robo Inferno” to gather that it was the only part of the first threat.

As the students ran, some fighting the robots, some dodging them, a long shadow grew to cover them.

“Ah fuck,” Ochako swore as she looked up, “they’ve got a buncha zero-pointers!”

“And you destroyed one of these things Izuku-kun!?” Momo asked incredulously.

“At the cost of shattering three of my limbs, yes,” Izuku confirmed. “Really not something I can repeat.”

“Where’d they find the money for all these?” Momo said in awe.

“Bold of you of all peop—” before Ochako could finish her sentence, all of the zero-pointers were encased in a massive glacier.

“I was hoping they’d prepared something more threatening,” Todoroki said as he ran.

“He stopped ‘em!” yelled one of the students. “We can get through the gap!”

“Bad idea,” Todoroki warned coldly. “I froze them mid attack.”

‘NINE CHECK THE BOTS INTEGRITY NOW!!’ Kudo yelled. ‘FUCKERS ARE ‘BOUTTA FALL!!!’

“Oh shit!” Izuku swore, hearing the ice begin to crack. Flowing more of One for All into his lungs and vocal cords, Izuku called out “The robots are falling! Get out from under them!” Knowing some wouldn’t make it and barely holding back a coughing fit, Izuku ran forward and prepared to catch the robots as they started to fall.

“Izuku-kun! Hold this!” Momo called out, summoning and throwing a cushion in a single motion. Izuku quickly caught it and hoisted it up, hoping it would take some of the impact.

“You’re gonna catch that thing?” asked the boy Katsuki had been talking to during the opening ceremonies. “Lemme help.” Contrary to what Izuku was expecting, the lipless boy didn’t lift it himself, instead touching the ground. Suddenly, Izuku felt himself sink ever so slightly into the dirt.

Before he could say anything, the robot fell, slamming into the cushion and Izuku’s arms, the force enough to slam Izuku knee deep into the now somewhat elastic dirt.

“Fuck!” Izuku swore, feeling his arms crack. “Everyone get out!?”

“We’re the last ones!” a spikey haired redhead Izuku recognized from 1-B said as he scrambled out from under the robot.

“You’re good to drop it!” Tetsutetsu barked as he emerged.

With a thud and a curse, Izuku let the robot fall and began rubbing his arms.

“Izuku-kun are you alright?” Ochako asked.

“Nothing that needs to be dealt with right this second,” Izuku said with a wince.

‘Motherfucker you broke both your arms!’ Daigoro swore.

‘I know, but like I said, not right now.’

“Thanks for holding it up dude, it was really manly!” the redhead said, helping to hoist Izuku out of the ground.

“Y-yeah” Izuku said, trying to hold back the wince. “Anyway, can you all get around this thing?”

“Looks like there’s an opening over there,” the boy with no lips said, pointing off to the side. “Which considering the race is still going,” he said no more as he turned and ran.

“Oh yeah,” Tetsutetsu agreed as he and the redhead ran after their new acquaintance. “We gotta go! See you in the next round!”

Izuku nodded and gave a quick glance to his girlfriends, one of whom had already started floating up over the robot, and the other creating a pole to vault herself up. Smiling to himself, Izuku leapt up onto the head of the robot and started running. Calling out “Next round is going to involve a team, I’d like to team up with you both if possible,” he passed them quickly crossing the robot as he chased after Todoroki dreading the lead the two-toned boy was gaining on them every second.

“The first barrier might’ve been a piece of cake for Todoroki Shoto, giving him a truly massive early lead,” Present Mic announced, “but the other students are finally back on the move, right as he’s getting to the next one! Fall and you’re out! You gotta crawl across if you wanna make it! It’s The Fall!”

‘…Case in point,’ Izuku thought to himself, upset.

‘It’s just a giant tight-rope,’ En said as Izuku rounded the bend toward The Fall, revealing rocky pillars out of Dragonball connected with steel cables, one of which was still frozen over from where Todoroki had glided across. ‘I was expecting something more from the obstacle name.’

‘I’m not complaining,’ Izuku thought as he leapt from one ledge to the next, arriving at the far side as Todoroki, and Bakugo if the explosions Izuku was hearing behind him were from where he thought they were, did the same.

“Midoriya Izuku and Bakugo Katsuki make mincemeat of the second challenge, not only making it all the way across before our 4 th place runner, Asui Tsuyu, even got to the first pillar, but also evaporating Todoroki Shoto’s near insurmountable lead!”

“If two of the other students were able to get rid of it in a single event then it was clearly easily surmountable,” Aizawa deadpanned.

“You say that, but now they’re going to have to slow way down for this next challenge! A minefield!”

“Oh come the fuck on,” Katsuki and Daigoro said in unison.

‘My husbands and I’ve had to deal with minefields before,’ Yoichi said. ‘We’ll help you.’

“A quick glance is enough to reveal a mine’s location, so be sure to keep both eyes peeled and watch your step! They’re not strong enough to hurt, but don’t be surprised if you need a new pair of shorts!”

‘Ok nevermind you might not need our help,’ Yoichi said.

‘Odds of me being able to take one of these things point blank?’ Izuku thought.

‘I’d be willing to find out,’ Daigoro said with a smirk.

Opting to be tactical for the moment, Izuku made sure to step on the off colored lump of dirt closest to where Todoroki was standing, setting off a small explosion of pink gas that was enough to knock the two-toned boy on his back but little more, feeling more like a small nudge than an actual explosion against Izuku’s foot.

Izuku and the ghosts smiled.

In a flash of green, Izuku bolted to the other side of the minefield, releasing cloud after cloud of pink smoke as he set off countless mines in his wake. As he ran, Izuku made sure to pay attention to the sound of the explosions; Katsuki’s were much louder than the mines, and seemed to be getting closer.

With one massive explosion, Katuki came rocketing beside Izuku. Letting out a harsh laugh, he barked out “Ha! This shit can’t slow me down!”

“We have a new pair of leaders!” Present Mic announced. “But the rest are catching up, and with these two grappling for first—” Izuku grabbed Katsuki’s arm and tried to fling him back the way they’d came, “quite literally it seems!” Present Mic continued. “The question is, can they hold onto the lead?”

Katsuki created an explosion right as Izuku was about to let go of him, keeping him from soaring behind. “It’ll take more than that to get rid of me!”

Gritting his teeth, Izuku tightened his grip on his former friend and bully, and dragged it down to the ground, forcing the blonde to his knees, putting him just low enough for Izuku’s foot to land on his chest. The force of his glowing green foot was enough to push him back, but where Katsuki was expecting it to be a kick, he was enraged to find that instead Izuku, the supposed useless, quirkless, pathetic, wimpy little bitch who’d lied to Katsuki his whole life and was none of those things, yet, stepped on him, driving him into the ground.

And not just anywhere on the ground. Katsuki felt the impact of a mine pushing up between his shoulder blades, right under where Izuku’s foot was pushing him down. He felt more than heard his spine popping, releasing pain unlike any he’d felt before and knocking the wind straight out of him, all while Izuku continued on, seemingly not caring what had happened.

Katsuki was nothing more than a pebble along Deku’s path.

And he saw red.

Exploding to his feet, Katsuki launched himself forward, screaming “Deku!! Get back here you little shit! You have something to fucking answer for!”

Rocketing himself forward, heedless of the consequences, Katsuki barely heard Present Mic’s announcement over the stadium speakers.

“The first to return back to the stadium is none other than 1-A’s class president Midoriya Izuku! And hot on his tail is 1-B’s Bakugo Katsuki!”

‘Shit’ Katsuki thought. ‘Still on TV. Can’t do this shit, holy hell I’m still on probation and I just had a fight with Deku. Am I going to be in trouble!?’

Landing and taking the time to catch his breath, Katsuki scowled and looked around. Ms. Fetishwear was up on a platform, looking like she was waiting for the end of the race. She’d be able to tell him if he’d gone too far, and was a good distance from Deku.

——————————

“Young Bakugo doesn’t appear to have liked that one bit,” Toshinori mused, torn between amused and worried as he looked out the staff’s view booth.

“I’m gonna go head down there so I’m ready if needed,” Hound Dog said, heading out.

“Thank you so much for helping out my brat,” Mitsuki said, sitting next to her husband near the window.

“No problem ma’am, it’s literally my job.”

“Personally I’m glad to see Katsuki seemed to drop it when he finished the event,” Inko said. “I’m a little concerned about the impact though. If he starts complaining about chest or back pains when this is over, take him to the hospital and have them make sure he didn’t crack a rib or anything.”

“The mines aren’t strong enough to do that,” Power Loader said. “Built them myself, there’s no way.”

“They’re strong enough to knock a teenager over if stepped on, and Katsuki just had it go off point blank against his back while his sternum was held in place and the rest of him was allowed to go wherever physics brought him. Best case scenario he won’t need a chiropractor for a while. Worst case, at least since he’s still able to walk around without coughing up blood,” Toshinori looked away as Inko gave him side-eye like only a medical worker could, “something’s broken.”

“Do you not have the authority to bring him to Recovery Girl between rounds?” Toshinori asked.

“If I did, I’d be dragging Izuku first. Did you see him catch the robot?”

“His quirk gives him super strength though, can’t he handle it?”

“I remind you that he’s only had it since February,” Toshinori pointed out. “He has the quirk control of a toddler with power that rivals All Might.”

“You’ve tested it out?” Ectoplasm asked. “I’m not doubting you, you of all people would know, but it seems a little excessive.”

“Did you forget the whole ‘crumpled one of my zero-pointers like a tin can with a single punch’ thing that happened during the entrance exam?” Power Loader snarked. “I don’t doubt it.”

“Wait, those giant robots from the first leg of the race?” Masaru asked in awe.

“The attempt apparently resulted in him shattering three of his four limbs,” Inko said. “His body is getting used to it, but slowly. It’ll probably be years before he can stop holding back.”

“Honestly would’ve been all four of his limbs if Uraraka-chan hadn’t caught him on his way down,” Power Loader said, his smile hidden behind his helmet. “I know they’re friends, but do you think they’ll be teaming up next round?”

“I assume so, but given the twist, I’m not sure. Why do you ask?”

“You remember what I told you about Hatsume-chan and her first meeting with your son? She said she’d be teaming with whoever it was that got 1 st place.”

Inko’s eyes went wide for a moment. “Oh dear. Well, that should be interesting.”

Chapter Text

“Izuku-kun,” Ochako panted, her exhaustion visible as she almost limped up to the boy in question, “that was awesome!”

“Quite,” Momo agreed, noticeably less winded and with a slight smile. “And I’d like to thank you for clearing a very obvious path for us to follow.”

“Aw, uh, wait a path?”

“Indeed,” Ilda said, shaking slightly and looking downtrodden. “Your dash across the minefield left footprints behind which many of our fellows leapt between. The primary issue being your speed must have widened your stride length. I believe Yaoyorozu-san was the only one to make use of them without needing to step off, and only then with the air of her poles.”

“You ok Ilda-kun?” Ochako asked.

“It’s nothing,” he assured them, “but just, I, with my quirk, lost a race, to individuals without a mobility quirk.”

“Sorry,” Izuku apologized, hiding his face behind his arms.

Momo placed her hand on Izuku’s shoulder to silently comfort him before changing the subject. “But Izuku-kun, you mentioned during the race that the next event would be a team game. Might I ask how you learned this?”

“Oh I watch the sports festival every year,” he explained. “The second main event is always a team game where we’re allowed to pick our allies. ItrotateseveryyearsoIdontknowwhatitisjustthatitwontbecapturetheflagdodgeballorkingofthehillsincetheyweretheeventsfromlastyearandtheyneverrepeattwoyearsinarowregardlessofwhichyearitwasthatdidaneventItprobablywontbepaintballeithersincethatsonlyeverdoneforsecondyearsTugofwarorcavalrybattleperhapsTheydiddoholeinthewallthatoneyearthoughandpeoplekeepaskingthemtobringitback…” Izuku was brought out of his muttering by Midnight revealing the rankings.

“The top 42 from this qualifying round will move on to the next main event!” Midnight said. “The rules are your standard affair for the most part; 2-4 people per team, one of you needs to be a rider, and gathering headbands while protecting your own. There’s two differences from normal though! Firstly, if you lose your headband, you’re not out yet! You stay in as long as the rider doesn’t touch the ground, and are free to grab headbands even if you don’t have one. And beyond that, the winning teams aren’t going to be the ones who have the most headbands, but the ones who got the highest scoring headbands! Your headband is worth a certain amount of points, based on who’s in it! 42 nd place is worth 5 points, 41 st is worth 10, so on and so on, but with a small jump between the 1 st and second place finishers.” If looks could kill Midnight’s smirk would. “Where 2 nd place is worth 205 points, 1 st is worth 10 million! The top 16 will move on to the next round!”

Izuku froze, eyes wide and terrified, sweat starting to pour from his face as every single person among those competing in the upcoming event turned to look at him.

“At least you were right about it being a cavalry battle?” Momo said, though both her expression and her tone made it clear she was grasping at straws.

Izuku took a deep breath in, held it for a moment, and mentally screamed ‘Shiiiiiiiiiiit!’ as he let himself exhale. ‘Ok, so, it looks like everyone’s mostly sticking to their own class, most likely because we all know each other’s quirks. Momo-chan and Ochako-chan will probably realize what it seems the rest of the class has and that the best strategy isn’t to hold my points the whole time but to swipe it at the last second. My classmates would also know that I don’t have much skill with my quirk, and would know that while I’m strong, I’d need help to—’

“Hey Izuku-kun, do you wanna be the ri—” was all Ochako said before Izuku let out a deluge of tears.

“Oh my!” Momo said. “Izuku-kun are you alright?”

“I-I just, I know I sorta asked the two of you to be on my team during the race, but once the points were announced, I—”

“Did you really think we wouldn’t team up with our boyfriend just because of some silly points?” Ochako asked, almost offended.

“I-I mean I didn’t wanna assume…”

“Izuku-kun, if we weren’t being televised, I’d show you how wrong you are,” Momo said only just loud enough that the three of them could hear her.

‘Hopefully she means kissing you, not fucking,’ Hikage said.

‘She was really shy about the topic when they first got together,’ Yoichi remembered.

Trying to keep from blushing, Izuku shoved all the ghosts into a box in the corner of his mind and focused on the task at hand. “So, I have a plan. Momo-chan, can you be the rider?”

“By all means, though I had thought you would be a better fit.”

“Do you remember how we escaped the boat during the USJ attack? We’re doing something similar, and of the two of you, you’re much taller and can make weapons, giving you a much better reach than Ochako-chan. We won’t be able to stay in the air though, and when we’re on the ground we need a way to keep you,” Izuku turned to Ochako as he spoke, “from tripping when I use my superspeed. We’ll need a third horse for that. Are Ilda and Tokoyami still available?”

“They’re both off talking with Todoroki-kun,” Ochako said.

“Indeed, it appears they and Ibara-san are forming a team,” Momo said. “Uraraka-chan, if you’d like, I can make you some roller-skates?”

Ochako made a face. “I only went roller skating once for a kid’s birthday in middle school, and the one time I left the bar I fell over in like a second; I’d just drop you the second things got going if we did that.”

“It was a good plan though,” Izuku said, “but without it, we absolutely need another horse.” Izuku began thinking into his fist, trying to think of who else would be able to replace them, at least from his class. Katsuki was a possibility, but he knew better than to think his former friend would ever want to just have the 1 st place spot handed to him for even a second, nor did he trust in his long term bully’s restraint after what had happened at the end of the last event.

As he was busy wracking his brain, Izuku was brought out of his thoughts by something suddenly hitting him in the back as a familiar voice screaming in his ears.

“Midoriya-kun!” Hatsume shouted mere centimeters from his face. “Team up with me!”

“Too close!” Izuku replied as he scrambled back.

“Ah, hello Hatsume-san,” Momo said, her tone suspiciously neutral. “I’m glad to see you made it to the next event. Though, might I ask both why you have so many devices that are clearly not a part of the standard UA gym uniform, and why you wish to join our team?”

“Two birds with one answer! One of the main reasons Support Students take part in the sports fest is to show off our babies to potential investors! And joining with you would mean my babies get a lot of time in the spotlight! But it’s not just good for me, support students are allowed to not only bring along but pass around any babies we make during our time here so long as it’s clear who got it and it’s only used in one event! I’ve had three whole weeks to make babies, so I’ve got dozens of them! Any that seem like something that you can use, feel free pass them around!” As she spoke, Hatsume opened up her backpack to reveal several gadgets and gizmos that she’d made, some with somewhat obvious purposes, some without. “How about this one?” she said, holding up a small jetpack. “It’s modeled after a certain hero’s pack, with a few modifications of my own.”

“Wait is that modeled after Air Jet’s backpack!?” Izuku exclaimed. “I love that guy he used to be based near my house!”

As the hero nerd and the engineering nerd nerded out over their respective interests, Ochako gave Momo a look, to which the taller girl merely replied “I suspect we may have someone new sitting at our lunch table soon.”

A few minutes later, Midnight announced the end of their planning period, and began passing out the headbands and instructing the teams to take their positions.

Izuku looked out over the field and braced himself for Present Mic’s countdown to end. Letting out a tense breath, he spoke just loud enough for his team to hear. “You guys ready?”

“Yep!” Ochako said perhaps a bit louder than she was intending.

“Indeed,” Momo said, inspecting the opposing teams.

Hatsume said nothing, instead opting to laugh like the mad scientist she was.

“Then let’s do this!” Izuku said as the countdown ended and every other team on the field began charging.

“This is a fight for the ten million!” yelled a boy from 1-B with a pair of large tusks coming from his otherwise fairly insectoid body from his perk atop two other 1-B boys. “Don’t pretend like it’s anything else!”

“We’re coming for you Midoriya-kun!” laughed a shirtless Toru sitting on a very nervous looking Sato and Koda, led by a noticeably less nervous looking Jiro.

“Technically you’re after Momo,” Izuku said as he started glowing and went to leap. It was only as he sunk into the earth down to his knees that he recognized the lipless boy leading the 1-B team charging him.

“We’re sinking!” Ochako exclaimed. “It’s the 1-B kid’s quirk!”

“Disney! Use the baby I gave you!” Mei yelled.

“Disney?” Momo asked as she pressed a button on the shoulder of her jetpack, letting loose a blast of air strong enough to rip all four of them free.

“They’re flying!? Can they even do that?” the lipless boy asked.

“It must be the girl from the support course!” the insect boy replied.

There was a scuffle on the ground, but it was drowned out by Bakugo rocketing up to Izuku’s team. “Don’t get too full of yourself you bastard!” he yelled.

‘Shit, how are we going to deal with Kacchan!?’ Izuku thought. Before the vestiges could reply, an explosion went off not from Bakugo’s hands, but against his chest and neck as he was hit by a rocket.

“You can make rockets!?” Mei asked, elated.

“I can make several explosives,” Momo replied, tossing the now empty rocket launcher to the ground.

‘Fuck I love this woman,’ Izuku thought as a horn flew up to grab Bakugo by the collar and bring him back to his team.

‘That makes three generations with concerning taste in partners,’ En deadpanned.

‘Hey!’ Nana exclaimed.

‘From both sides,’ Yoichi continued.

‘Yourself included,’ Bruce snarked, much to his husband’s theatrically false outrage.

“We’re landing!” Ochako, the only one of the four who still had gravity, called out as they crested their rise.

“How do you like my babies?” Mei asked as Ochako’s boots let out a gust of wind to soften their landing. “They’re cute right? That’s how I made them!”

“They’re great Hatsume-san!” Izuku said, scanning the area. “They’re keeping us incredibly mobile!”

“Is now really the time!?” Ochako asked as they dove away from a group seemingly only consisting of girls from 1-B.

‘It might be different for open relationships,’ En said, ‘but it’s generally poor form to flirt with a girl you’re not dating in front of those you are.’

‘W-what!? No that’s not what I was doing at all! ’ Izuku sputtered as he ran.

‘Could’ve fooled me,’ Nana warned. ‘After this, you should go and talk with them about it, make sure they didn’t take it the wrong way.’

Izuku would have responded, but the conversation had distracted him from noticing another team approaching until Momo screamed. 

Instantly, Izuku turned the group around to face the towering form of Shoji, his tentacles extended, the flaps between them obscuring whoever his rider was. Izuku would have thought him alone if two other sets of legs didn’t stick out from under them.

“Momo-chan are you ok!?” Izuku asked, glaring at Shoji

“I’m fine, just took a shock to the back.”

“To your back?” Mei asked before looking up before gasping. “My baby! Its circuits are fried! The jetpack’s out of commission!”

“What? How!?” Ochako asked.

“One of the other horses is Kaminari!” Izuku answered.

“Did he short himself out? Why aren’t they attacking?”

“Shoji-kun!” Tetstutetsu barked from behind the tentacle flaps. “We need to fall back! That shock hurt Tsu’s tongue more than we expected!”

“That answers that then!” Izuku said, trying to dash away only to realize they’d been surrounded in the confusion. “At least we still have plan A!” With a leap, Izuku sent their team skyward once more, his arms starting to ache.

‘This is what you get for being that active with your arms dealing with pressure fractures,’ Bruce said.

‘How do you even—’ Izuku asked.

‘Medical degree, now focus on your 9 o’clock.’

As Bruce had warned, a wave of thorns surged forth from Izuku’s right side. Quickly swinging them around midair, Izuku went to kick the plants out of the way only for them to part and reveal the largest mass of shadows Izuku had ever seen. “Dark Shadow!” Izuku called out in shock, a feeling only magnified at the sound of a gunshot, followed by a massive explosion reducing the vines to mulch and disappearing the demonic bird.

“Explosive bullets!?” Ochako asked as they made their way to the ground, following after an empty shotgun.

“Buckshot made of Lithium,” Momo explained. “Lithium explodes on contact with water, which plants are full of.”

‘Fuck I love this woman,’ Izuku thought to himself.

‘Remember what your uncle and I said about having kids before graduation,’ Nana teased.

‘I just wanna point out,’ Yoichi said, some concern in his voice, ‘that explosive bullets have been illegal since the 1800’s. Woman just committed a war crime on national television.’

‘You say that like it’s a bad thing,’ Kudo said, his smirk appearing through his voice.

As they landed, Present Mic’s voice came out through the speakers. “We’re now halfway through the match, and with all the fierce competition over the first place headband, it can be easy to notice what’s going on in the middle of the pack, so let’s take a look at the current point spread to see how our teams are doing, shall we? Ohh? What’s this? Aside from team Midoriya and team Todoroki, every other team with someone from class A in it has lost their headbands! They’re not even on the board anymore! What on Earth is going on down there!?”

“You’re the announcer,” Aizawa said over the speakers. “If anyone here should know that it should be you.”

“ItlookslikeclassBthrewthequalifiersandplannedthelonggameFromthatitdoesntseemlikeanyoneexceptKacchanwouldbecomingafterourheadband,” Izuku mumbled, looking around to see his classmates chasing after groups from 1-B. “Guys, I think we might be in the clear for now!”

The purring of an engine brought Izuku’s attention to the side. ‘Speak of the devil,’ Bruce mused.

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Todoroki said, standing above Ibara, Tokoyami, and Ilda.

“Ya just had ta go ‘n open yer damned mouth,” Ochako whispered so quietly that she probably hadn’t meant to say it at all.

“It doesn’t appear we’re going to be able to avoid a fight this time,” Momo said. “But my actions just now haven’t led to any hard feelings, have they?”

“Dark Shadow cannot feel pain,” Tokoyami said plainly.

“Nor can my vines,” Ibara confirmed.

“That’s good,” Momo said. “Then I would recommend doing something about the other teams that are approaching.” She pointed behind Todoroki, making most of the team look back to confirm. In an instant Ibara grew out her vines to grab at the legs of the pursuing horses, one of the vines reaching up to Todoroki in the process. With a touch of the two-toned boy’s hand, the vines were frozen solid, trapping the teams where they stood.

Todoroki turned back to team Yaoyorozu once he’d finished, unsurprised to find they’d taken the chance to try and run and had been blocked off by the ice wall that now encircled them. They were glancing around, unsurprisingly upset to find the walls higher than Midoriya had jumped today.

This was a trap after all. Todoroki would have to be a fool to put up a wall his query could escape from so easily, and Todoroki was no fool.

Which made the fact they managed to evade his team for nearly the rest of the match while stuck in a space smaller than their classroom all the more infuriating.

Every charge sidestepped, every sidestep ducked under, every attempt with Dark Shadow or Ibara’s vines parried with explosive buckshot, and every feint seen through as if it were made in slow motion. At best, Todoroki would manage to swipe a few strands of hair from Yaoyorozu’s ponytail, but nothing more.

Finally, Present Mic began the final count down to the end of the match, and in the back of his mind Todoroki was beginning to grow concerned he might crack a tooth he was clenching his jaw so tight.

“Everyone,” Ilda said just quiet enough for his team to hear. “I have but one thing left I can try to grab the headband, but I warn you it will be all I can do to remain standing afterwards. It will be on all of you to get it. Do you understand?”

Todoroki understood immediately and braced himself. “Go for it,” he commanded, eyes too focused on the headband to notice Midoriya smile, the instant before everything became a blur.

Amongst the blur was an infuriating shade of mint green suddenly soaring up over Todoroki’s head.

Todoroki snapped back, left arm ablaze just in time to see the most enraging thing he’d seen all day. Midoriya leaping not just over his ice wall, but so high he wondered for a moment if he were even still in the stadium.

‘Damn it all,’ Todoroki thought. ‘He was playing me for a fool this whole time! Why did—’ Eyes growing wide, Todoroki snapped his left arm to the side, extinguishing it. ‘Damn it. What was I thinking, using my left? I can never use it to attack. I vowed to be the next number one without it! But when push came to shove…’

“Damn it,” Todoroki said, hopping off as Present Mic announced the end of the Cavalry Battle. “It’s just what that man wanted.” ‘Did he put Midoriya-san up to it? Why would he, of all people, listen? Was it just because he’s the number two? No, his father is…’ Todoroki recalled back to the bus ride to the USJ. Clenching his fists so tight it hurt, Todoroki decided he needed answers.

Chapter Text

Izuku wept in relief as his team floated back to the ground, listening to Present Mic announce the top four teams from the event with team Yaoyorozu in first place, before announcing that there’d be an hour long lunch break before the non-tournament events began, with the finals being reserved until the very end.

‘Nine, focus, you got a lot of shit to do and not a lot of time to do it.’ Bruce warned as the team disassembled and began walking off to go talk to their friends. ‘Your arms have hairline fractures all across your arms, so you’ll need to head to young Shuzenji to get that fixed, and you know your accidental flirting with that support chick? You and your girls set up three rules when you got together, and one of them’s not fucking flirting with people you’re not dating in front of people you are.’

“Ah fuck,” Izuku whispered under his breath, terrified.

‘And you see why we waited to tell him,’ Yoichi explained.

‘Fair, sorry.’ En apologized.

‘Izuku-kun, listen,’ Nana warned. ‘Do it in private, trust me.’

‘Right,’ Izuku said, walking off the field with the rest of the students, silently glad that Hatsume had wandered off.

“Midoriya-san,” Todoroki said sternly, placing his hand on Izuku’s shoulder. “I want to speak with you.”

“Yeah, uh” Izuku said, wincing slightly at the pain in his arm. “I think I might’ve hurt something during the race, so I’m going to the nurse’s office, can we talk after?”

Todoroki scowled, but let go. “Fine. I’ll be waiting near the students only exit by the waiting rooms.”

Izuku nodded and speed walked away. ‘Adding that to the list then,’ he mentally grumbled as he approached his girlfriends.

“Hey Izuku-kun!” Ochako said with a smile, going to hold his hand only to let go when he winced. “Is everything ok?”

“Yeah, I just need to go see Recovery Girl real quick,” Izuku explained, “then Todoroki wants to talk to me real quick, if that’s alright.”

“It’s most likely just more chest thumping like he did in the class waiting room,” Momo mused. “I have no problems with it, so long as you keep the discussion short.”

“Same, I wanna eat lunch with you,” Ochako said with a smile, “just the three of us.”

‘Please tell me that’s not code for ‘we need to talk.’’ Izuku thought as he smiled to try and hide the terror those last five words instilled in him. Terror that hadn’t dissipated until after heading to the nurse’s office, getting a battering on the shins, a lecture on how stupid he was to try and hold one of the zero-pointers up, a kiss on the wrist, and instructions to not do that again. Terror that briefly made him forget about the talk he and Todoroki were going to have until he approached the tunnel where the two-toned boy was waiting for him.

“Midoriya-kun, you’re here,” Todoroki said with a glare.

“Yeah, um” Izuku said, trying to think of what to say next. “You wanted to talk? The dining hall’s probably already packed, so could we please hurry?”

“You overwhelmed me,” Todoroki said plainly. “So much so that I broke my vow.”

Izuku bit his tongue. ‘So he has a reason to avoid his fire?’

‘Be nice to know what it is,’ Daigoro thought.

‘Be nice if he wasn’t as intimidating as a pissed off Kacchan.’

“Ilda-san, Tokoyami-san, Ibara-san, Yaoyorozu-san, Uraraka-san,” Todoroki continued, “None of them felt it. In that last moment I was the only one who felt it. That pressure. My father is Endeavor, and he’s brought me to his fights on more than one occasion. A few of them had him teaming up, however briefly, with All Might.”

“So, what are you saying?”

“I felt the same pressure coming from you, just weaker. Weak enough that you at 100% might even surpass it. And I’m not naïve enough to believe it’s a coincidence.”

‘Oh no, please don’t tell me he’s—’

“You really are All Might’s bastard, aren’t you?”

Izuku’s mind froze.

“Wha, no, what? No that’s not it at all! Didn’t you hear what he said to Tetsutetsu? Why would you still believe it?”

“'No that’s not it at all?’ That’s an interesting way to phrase it. There’s definitely something you’re hiding, some secret about your quirk. I’m sure of it.”

Izuku clenched his jaw but said nothing.

Todoroki let out a sigh. “Quirk marriages. Have you heard of them? The way you started scowling the second I mentioned them says yes.”

Izuku forced himself back to a neutral expression. “I’ll admit to having a, more than passing knowledge about the topic. Why do you ask?”

“My father was already one of the top ten heroes when All Might made his debut here in Japan. The way he tells it, he was a ‘rising star rocketing up the ranks, practically a show-in for the number one spot after Meta-man had that accident.’”

‘Meta-man?’ Izuku wondered.

‘The number one before Toshi,’ Nana explained. ‘Got his cape stuck in an elevator shaft. Fell from the 57 th floor to the 2 nd basement.’

“The next time the billboard updated was also the first time All Might got his rank. All Might was number one, and Endeavor was number two. Their rankings haven’t changed in the over 30 years since. At some point, my father realized he’d never be able to surpass All Might, so he used his wealth and fame to force my mother’s family to agree to sell her to him all to get his hands on her quirk. He forced her to have his children, popping out one after the other, just so that one of them would have a quirk that could fulfil his ambitions. I’m nothing but a tool for that piece of shit.”

Todoroki let out a strained breath as he placed his left hand over his face. “In every memory I have of my mother, she’s always crying. The last time I saw her, she’d been making tea and was on the phone with her parents. I don’t remember what she was talking about, just that it had something to do with him and that she was upset. I went to talk to her, I think to comfort her, and when she looked at my left side, she didn’t see her five-year-old son. She saw Endeavor. And she threw the kettle in my face.” Todoroki let out another strained breath as he lowered his hand to reveal the massive scar covering his left side and looked at Izuku’s horrified face.

“I say all of this, because I need to know. Is All Might doing the same?”

It took Izuku a minute to recover, his expression going from utterly appalled to enraged as he gathered himself. Finally, he spoke, his voice deep and burning with fury. “No. Todoroki-kun I swear, All Might is not my father, he is not involved in a quirk marriage, hell he’s never even had a girlfriend before. He’d be infuriated by the very idea, and if you let me tell him, he won’t rest until Endeavor sees justice.”

Todoroki looked at Izuku for a moment, trying to find any sign that the green boy was lying. Finally, he stopped leaning against the wall and turned away, saying “Fine. Keep your relationship with him a secret. Either way I’ll surpass you without using his fire. And don’t bother telling anyone about that. The HPSC has been covering it up for decades, and Endeavor’s spent enough money bribing the hospital he’s keeping my mom at that, according to my sister, she’s been sane for the last few years but they still won’t let her out.”

Izuku stood there for a moment, shaking with rage as he watched Todoroki walk away. With a snap, he pulled out his phone and quickly moved to a different chat than the one with Momo and typed out a message

Midoriya Izuku: Yagi-sensei, I want to talk to you at some point today. Not now, but in person and in private. It involves a corrupt hero.

Definitely Not All Might: Oh my! Young-Midoriya I will be there as soon as I can after lunch! May I ask how you came across this information?

‘Still can’t believe he named himself that in this chat,' Izuku thought.

'That’s what he names himself in every chat with someone who knows the secret, ’ Nana explained.

'Hell that’s his name in the UA staff group chat,' Daigoro said.

Midoriya Izuku: That’s part of the reason I want to save it until we’re in person.

Putting his phone away, Izuku let out a breath to steady himself and went to the cafeteria. Seeing his girlfriends sitting off to the side, Izuku smiled and grabbed food before taking his seat between them.

“Hey, sorry about that. It uh, Todoroki-san didn’t just want to chest thump.”

“Oh my,” Momo said. “What was it actually about then?”

“Not something I’m supposed to talk about. I’m telling All Might later though.”

“Oh geeze, that serious?” Ochako asked.

“Yeah. Could be just about anyone on staff but my mom, but I have his number, so I’m telling him.” Izuku let out a sigh and looked down at his food. “But uh, while me and him were talking, I realized what I said to Hatsume-san during the match might’ve come off, not how I intended, and I’m sorry about that.”

“What was it that you said that you think came off wrong?” Ochako asked, her tone even in a way that brought back the anxiety he’d forgotten when meeting with Todoroki.

“Uh, sorry, um, so, during the cavalry battle I complimented her inventions,” he said, his voice growing quieter with each word, “and it might’ve come off kinda flirty?” Izuku’s hands snapped up to his shoulders as they splayed apart, him doing his damnedest to come off as non-threatening. “That wasn’t what I meant though, I swear! I just meant it as a compliment, no deeper meaning!”

Momo gently put her hand on his shoulder. “It’s alright Izuku-kun, you don’t need to be so anxious about this. Yes, that is how what you said could have been taken, but we understood at the time that wasn’t your intent, isn’t that right Uraraka-chan?”

Ochako hummed in agreement, but was clearly still slightly upset. “Was that the only thing you said that you think came across wrong?”

‘Oh fuck,’ Izuku thought. ‘Where else did I go wrong?’

‘Nowhere I can recall,’ Kudo said.

‘I got nothing either,’ Nana confirmed.

‘Maybe you were too friendly with her when you first met?’ Hikage wondered.

‘She’d’ve brought it up by now if he had been,’ Daigoro said.

‘Yeah but earlier today, start of the cavalry battle maybe?’ Bruce asked.

‘They were just nerding out,’ Yoichi said, ‘that shouldn’t be the problem.’

‘So none of you know what it could be?’ Izuku pleaded.

‘That’s what it sounds like,’ En agreed.

‘Fuck.’ Izuku swallowed before shakily, clearly unsure, saying “Uh, I don’t, I’m not sure? I’m sorry.”

Momo sighed. “Uraraka-san, that was just the two of them being able to discuss their shared interests. They were just becoming friends, nothing more. Honestly from what little we know of how his time before UA went one could argue he deserves far more of them.”

‘So it was how they met today,’ Bruce said, slightly smug.

‘If she gives you any amount of shit,’ Yoichi said, letting the sentence lie.

Ochako’s brow twitched before she let out a deep breath. “That’s fair, sorry. Yeah it just, the two of you seemed to click well is all, and given how the first thing I heard her say was that she,” Ochako rolled her wrist as her face was dusted pink, “uh, wanted to make an invention with you…”

“Yeah I understand, sorry. I’ll try to avoid her when you’re around if she makes you upset.”

“No no, that’s, you don’t need to go that far!” Now it was Ochako’s turn to wave her hands about to try and placate her partner. “Just, gahh, sorry, this is a me thing, I’ll get over it.”

As Ochako began pouting, Izuku gently wrapped his arm around her waist to pull her in, to try and make her feel better. It worked, and the three fell into a pleasant silence as they ate their lunch.

After they finished eating, Present Mic’s voice came out over the loudspeakers. “All right everybody! There’s been a bit of a shake up with the roster for the final round of the sports festival! Turns out two of our finalists weren’t expecting to make it that far, so Ojiro Mashiaro and Shoda Nirengeki have decided to withdraw at this time! Taking their spot, we have Kamakiri Togaru and Honenuki Juzo! Speaking of, the bracket for the final event, 1v1 battles, has been decided upon! Those of you in the stadium with us can see it just by looking to the view screens!”

“I wonder why Shoda-san and Ojiro-san decided to pull back?” Momo wondered.

“I have my suspicions,” Izuku thought aloud, looking to the bracket. “If nothing else, I’m going up against their rider first thing.”

“And it looks like we won’t be going against each other until the semi-finals,” Ochako pointed out.

“It appears that they structured the events as a whole to prevent even the chance of someone going against a teammate until then either,” Momo observed, pointing to each person on the bracket and listing off their team. “Izuku-kun vs. Shinso-san, Ibara-san vs. Tsunotori-san, Kamakiri-san vs. Kirishima-san, Todoroki-san vs. Hatsume-san, Ashido-san vs. Aoyama-san, Tokoyami-san vs. myself, Ilda-san vs. Honenuki-san, and Uraraka-san vs. Bakugo-san. No one is going against someone from their team, nor will they in the next round either. Regardless of who wins each round, they won’t be facing one of their companions from the Cavalry Battle until the semi-finals when there’s only four people left.”

Izuku’s phone buzzed as he received a text message. He checked it briefly, before putting it away. “I’m going to go see if I can get into my waiting room, ok? If you need me, I’ll be there till my round, ok?”

“That’s fine,” Ochako said with a smile.

“I’ll make sure to tell the others,” Momo agreed.

Chapter Text

Toshinori clenched his jaw as he sat in Izuku’s waiting room, absorbing what he’d said.

Toshinori let out a deep breath before speaking. “Thank you for bringing this to my attention, young Midoriya. Nezu-sama, did you catch that?”

“This time?” came the principal's voice from the intercom. “Yes. The previous time young Todoroki must have either had this conversation while I was otherwise occupied, or in one of the few blindspots in the stadium’s cameras. I’ll have to fix that.”

“Uh, what?” Izuku said confused.

“I have cameras all throughout the campus,” the chimera said, “all of which also have microphones. There are a few places they can’t see, either because of simple oversight or because cameras aren’t allowed in them, such as bathrooms and changing rooms.”

“Isn’t this a changing room?”

“Just because there’s not a camera in there doesn’t mean there’s not a microphone.”

Izuku frowned at that. “That sounds, highly concerning.”

“You get used to that the more time you spend around the principal,” Toshinori explained, no emotion in his voice. “I’ve checked, everything he does is technically legal.”

“I’d hope, given his position,” Izuku said.

Nezu laughed through the intercom, not stopping even as he ended the transmission.

‘That weasel scares me,’ Daigoro said.

‘Even if he had gigantism,’ Izuku thought, ‘Nezu-sama is far too big to be a weasel. But otherwise I agree completely.’

‘Well if he’s not a weasel or a shrew, what do you think he is?’ Kudo snarked.

“ImnotcertainbutbasedontheshapeofhissnoutthefactheswellknowntoenjoydrinkingteaisactiveduringthedayhistendencytoclimbontohisstaffsshouldersandhisabilitytopwalkonhishindlegshesmostlikelysomesortofdiurnalarborealomnivoreIdontthinkthereareanyanimallikethatthatsalsotherightsizeandnativetoJapanbutzoosandexoticpetsexistsothatsnotreallyalimitingfactorthoughtheywouldneedtobenativetoaregionwitheitheratropicalortemperateclimateashesbeenseenwearingacoatinthewinterbutnotcomplainedabouthowhotthesummerscangetHealsohasalongfurrytailaswellasafairlylonglifespanforhissizeashesbeentheprincipleofUAforalmostadecadeatthispoint.”

“Pardon me young Midoriya,” All Might said, interrupting the muttering session, “May I ask what it was that made you start mumbling just now?”

“Oh, uh, sorry, no it’s nothing important, just, err, the vestiges keep making guesses as to what species the principle is, and they keep guessing ones that are far too small to be him, so uncle Kudo asked if I had any idea what he could be.” Izuku winced as he finished his explanation.

‘None of which I understood,’ Kudo interjected.

‘Diurnal omnivorous mammal from the tropics who lives in trees,’ Izuku thought. ‘I’ll look more into it later.’

‘Diurnal means awake during the day,’ Hikage explained before the other ghosts could ask.

Toshinori laughed at Izuku’s response. “It’s alright my boy, no need to worry about that. But going back to our previous topic, rest assured, I and the rest of UA won’t rest until young Todoroki is no longer forced to live with his father.”

With that, Toshinori made his way out, only to stop when the door opened before he could touch the handle, Ojiro standing on the other side.

“Oh, sorry,” the tailed boy said. “I was told this was Midoriya-kun’s waiting room.”

“Ojiro-kun?” Izuku said, turning to the door. “Yeah it’s mine, what can I do for you?”

“I’ll let you boys talk,” Toshinori said, “I need to go speak with All Might-sama about something.”

As the skeletal form of the number one hero left, the tailed boy followed him with his eyes. “So I was going to talk about something else, but first, uh, who was that?”

“All Might’s secretary and a friend of my mom, Yagi Toshinori,” Izuku explained, momentarily confused as to why Daigoro chuckled smugly at that. “But what was it you wanted to talk about?”

——————————

“YEAHHHH! Everybody, are you ready!” Present Mic’s English roared out through the speakers, before continuing in Japanese. “It’s time for the first match! On one side, the first place finisher of both of the main events, 1-A’s class president, Midoriya Izuku!”

‘What does me being class prez have to do with anything?’

‘A bunch of pros are only just now watching,’ Nana explained. ‘These intros are the closest you’re gonna get to a resume.’

“And on the other!” Present mic continued. “Coming from the general studies, and sneaking in a victory behind everyone’s back, Shinso Hitoshi from general studies!”

Izuku looked across the concrete arena at the purple haired boy who, despite everything that had happened today and how important it probably was to him, still had the passive look he’d first had when they met.

“The rules are simple!” Present Mic explained. “You can win either by knocking your opponent out of the ring, pinning them down where they can’t escape, or by getting them to yield! We have Recovery Girl on standby, so go nuts! We have Midnight and Cementoss on standby however, so if you go too far they will stop the match!”

“We can win by forfeit huh?” Shinso said, idly looking out around the stadium.

‘Oh boy, he’s gonna try ragebaiting,’ Daigoro warned. ‘Don’t listen to him.’

“Get it, Midoriya-san? This battle’s going to be a test of will just as much as strength. You might have the latter in spades, but the former?” As Shinso spoke, Present Mic announced the start of the match. “Someone like you, born with an amazing quirk like that, is nothing compared to me, because without your quirk you’re useless.”

‘Never mind,’ Daigoro said.

“What did you just say!?” Izuku roared, charging across the field.

Until everything went white.

Suddenly, Izuku found himself back in the bank vault he’d visited every night to be with the vestiges, though this time it was different. Where before the void surrounding their little wedge of concrete was black, now it was pure, uniform bubblegum pink. The same shade of pink as the flaming silhouette of Nana currently sitting in her chair.

“Damn that kid must’ve hit you hard,” Daigoro said from his throne.

“Did I fall asleep?” Izuku asked, his jaw having fully formed the night after the USJ attack. “Is this what it looks like when I’m awake?”

“Naw, I’m pretty sure each of our souls have a different color,” Bruce explained, pointing behind Izuku. “Yours is black, mine is red, Seven’s is pink. The void color just matches whoever’s in charge of the body.”

Turning around, Izuku found an enormous hole in the void, roughly circular in shape, through which he saw the sports festival through his eyes. Specifically, he saw his body charging at Shinso, who looked to be panicking.

“Oh she’s pissed,” Daigoro said, torn between being impressed and being afraid.

“I mean did you hear what he called her grandson?” En asked, purely amused. “Bitch used to put people in the hospital just for insulting Leafy. This is perfectly in character for her.”

“Leafy?” Izuku asked over his shoulder moments before he watched himself give Shinso a kick to the liver, dropping him like a bag of bricks.

Before Shinso even hit the ground, Izuku found himself floating out of the void and back into his body.

“Shinso Hitoshi is unable to move!” Midnight said, her voice echoing over the loudspeaker. “Midoriya Izuku moves on to the next round!”

‘Shit, Izuku quick,’ Nana swore. ‘Mind control quirks almost always drop when the subject is hurt. I kept my-your fists clenched that entire match, do something to say that’s how you got out.’

‘What does that—’ Izuku began.

‘Channel One for All into your fingers and cut your palms,’ Yoichi commanded.

Izuku did as instructed, wincing as he felt his nails stab into flesh. Looking down, he was unsurprised by the four crescents in each palm that had blood dripping from them.

“Oh boy my mom’s going to love this,” Izuku said. ‘If she asks I’m blaming you Grandma.’

‘That’s fair.’ Nana said as Izuku made his way to the infirmary. ‘And did you ask who Leafy was?’

‘I have several questions, but yeah that was one of them.’

‘Leafy was a nickname our friends gave her husband when we were in school,’ En explained. ‘He had leaves for hair, and his name was ‘Haruki.’’

‘Was it actually spelled with the character for leaf?’

‘No, but then again yours doesn’t have the character for nine in it.’

Sensing Nana growing depressed, Izuku speed walked the rest of the way to the infirmary, where he immediately had Recovery Girl’s cane reintroduced to his shins.

“What are you doing back here already!?” she shrieked.

“I’m sorry!” he said, holding up his bloody palms to placate her.

“Izuku how did that happen!” Inko exclaimed, rushing to his side.

Izuku quickly looked behind him, glad to see Shinso hadn’t come this way. He probably decided he didn’t need the infirmary; the blow had been enough to bruise, but not much more.

“Shinso-san has a mind control quirk, and used it on me. I don’t know how or why, but Grandma ended up in control of my body and fought the match for me. Once he dropped, I was in control again, but the ghosts and I agreed it would look suspicious if I’d been unaffected by his quirk, so I needed some excuse to get away with it. Since Nana had clenched my fists the entire match, I went with trying to make it seem like I’d clenched it so hard I’d hurt myself. It uh, worked a little better than we expected.”

“That’s one way to put it,” Inko said, clearly displeased at the mention of Nana. “Thanks to h-them, you’re going to have scars in your palms now!”

“Great save,” Recovery Girl said sarcastically before kissing Izuku’s arm. “I almost believe you’re not just blaming Nana-chan.”

“Uncle Yoichi was the one to actually make the suggestion,” Izuku said, blocking off his grandmother and her wave of sorrow. “And again, it was an accident, I didn’t mean to cut myself.”

“Go wash the blood off and ask the old man in your head what on earth put Nana-chan in charge.

Daigoro chuckled at that before explaining. Once he’d finished and Izuku had started drying his hand, Izuku said aloud “Um, Banjo-san said to quote ‘tell the 12 year old that we have no damned clue about it. The user would sometimes see shadows of the ghosts, but that’s it.’ He also said to remind you that I’m the first user able to talk to the vestiges, so it’s probably got something to do with that.”

“12 year old?” Inko asked.

Recovery Girl smiled warmly. “Daigoro-kun and I became friends when I was 13, but he didn’t realize how young I was for a couple years. For the rest of his life we had a running joke of me being 12 years old, and him being an old man. Ironic now, since he died in his 30’s, and I’m in my 80’s.”

Unsure how to proceed after that, Izuku threw out the paper towel he’d been drying his hand with and made his way out, quietly saying “Learning a lot about my predecessors today.”

“Hm?” Inko inquired.

“I learned Grandpa’s, your dad’s, name and at least some of what his quirk did. I can explain when I get home if you want.”

If his mother responded, Izuku didn’t hear it, walking back to his class’s view box.

“Hey Izuku-kun!” Ochako called out as he returned.

“Is everything alright?” Momo asked.

“Indeed, you were gone for most of the time between matches!” Ilda said with a chop.

“I’m fine,” Izuku said. “Just got hurt and needed to see my mom.”

“You got hurt?” Kaminari snorted. “How? Dude didn’t even land a finger on you.”

Izuku held up his hand in answer, showing off his new scars. “He said some things that I hadn’t heard since middle school. I don’t wanna talk about it.”

Taking his seat between his girlfriends, Izuku looked out as the match between Ibara and the horned girl from 1-B, thinking that was the end of the conversation.

Hagakure apparently had other ideas.

“Ok seriously,” she said, sitting up on her seat and turning to face the trio, “it’s been two weeks since the hang out, we’ve given you three plenty of time to talk over the confession, why are the three of you still being all chummy? Shouldn’t at least one of either Yaoyorozu-chan or Uraraka-chan have, I don’t know, been at least a bit awkward around the other two? Not,” she gestured at the three of them, “being all chummy like that!”

“Huh?” Izuku said, shocked . ‘When did they—?'

‘Young Yaoyorozu’s confession and your reaction might’ve been in private,’ Yoichi interrupted, ‘but it was not subtle.’

“Hagakure-san!” Ilda said loudly. “The nature of their relationship is theirs to discern! If they wish to keep it a secret then we have no right to interfere!”

“And if he’s pulling them along or secretly cheating on them—!"

“Have we not told anyone?” Momo asked Izuku and Ochako.

“I thought we had?” Ochako said, unsure.

“I, uh, I hadn’t, at least,” Izuku said. “I’m not sure there’s a way to say it that wouldn’t have been taken the wrong way.”

“Surely it’s not that hard,” Momo said. “We’ve been in an open relationship for the last two weeks, meaning that while yes you’re dating both Uraraka-chan and I but you have no problem with us having additional partners, nor have you done anything to force us into this arrangement.”

That single sentence opened a floodgate of questions, concerns, and general confusion among the class that didn’t start slowing until Ibara returned from winning her match.

At which point it turned into a sermon.

Chapter Text

“That was an amazing match!” Tetsutetsu said, thankfully interrupting Ibara’s sermon about the immorality of polygamy and how Izuku was violating one of the commandments of a faith he did not believe in.

“How much of that opinion is just because you and that Kirishima guy have nearly identical quirks?” Shoda asked.

“I mean, I wouldn’t turn down a fight with either of ‘em,” Tetsutetsu said, “but that’s not why I liked theirs. It was simple, clean, and straightforward. No complicated plans or movements, they just charged each other, and saw who was stronger, the bug with swords on their arms, or the man made of stone. Natural opposites testing their limits.”

“Vorie,” Aoyama agreed, “It was quite the splendid display!” Flamboyantly standing from their chair, the French boy made his way to the door. “But alas, as much as the discussion examining the match enthralls me, at no point more than whilst it was on going, I must make my leave.”

“I’d do it quickly,” Izuku said, leaning over the back of his chair. “This match isn’t going to take very long. I would’ve said something, but I couldn’t get a word in.”

“If that is your assessment Midoriya-kun, then au revoir!” Aoyama said before turning to run.

Ibrara was about to resume her rant when Ochako spoke up. “What makes you say it’ll be fast?”

“Hatsume-san is a great inventor and engineer,” Izuku explained, carefully looking at his girlfriend’s reaction, “she’d have to be to make it to the second round, which only two other non-hero course students achieved, but she’s just that. A non-heroics student.”

“And now she’s going against one of the two strongest members of our class,” Momo finished.

“Oh yeah, she’s screwed,” Sero said, looking out at the arena.

“Any bets on how many seconds she lasts?” Kaminari joked.

“According to UA policy students are forbidden from participating in gambling!” Ilda said with several chops.

Kaminari’s half hearted defense was cut off as Present Mic announced the beginning of the match, which was itself cut off by a brief burst of static before another voice came over the intercom.

“Providing you the color commentary for this rouACK!” Hatsume began, quickly being silenced as a glacier formed around her.

‘Jesus Christ!’ Bruce silently swore loud enough that Izuku couldn’t hear what exclamations his classmates said.

“Holy shi-taki mushrooms!” Hatsume swore over the intercom and on national television. “Isn’t that a little overkill?” There was a moment of silence, likely because Midnight and Todoroki were talking, though the teacher had her entire right side frozen over. “Of course I yield! I can’t move and all my babies got busted by the blast! Now hurry up and thaw me out, my hands still on the button for me to take control of the comms!”

“Sorry,” Todoroki said, having moved close enough that he could be picked up on Hatsume’s mics. “I overdid it. I was just annoyed.”

As the stands began to let out cheers of “good try,” Todoroki placed one hand on the ice and began melting it, a morose look on his face.

‘He was pissed when he left, and now he’s sad,’ Izuku observed. ‘Any ideas on why?’

‘Not the first time we’ve run into people with fucked up families,’ Kudo said, his voice distant as if he weren’t entirely talking about this. ‘His sperm donor is a hero right? So he can go damn near wherever he wants in the stadium, right? Probably just ran into him.’

‘Joy,’ Izuku deadpanned as the iceberg was removed.

“It appears that I’m on deck,” Momo said, heading out.

“Yeah I’m going to go too,” Ochako said, her face dour.

“Want me to come with?” Izuku asked.

“You can if you want,” Ochako said.

“Don’t think that by leaving you can escape my—!" Ibara began, but the trio weren’t paying attention.

Momo let out a deep sigh once they were out of earshot of the rest of the class. “Izuku-kun, I’m sorry, there apparently is no safe way to discuss our open relationship without making people angry.”

“I mean, most of the class was chill about it,” Izuku clarified. “It was just Ibara-san that hated it.”

“I can’t imagine Aizawa-sensei will take it well either,” Ochako mused. “Like, he’s not going to be Ibara-san bad, but he’s absolutely going to say something about fraternizing and how if we have time to have multiple partners we have time to, frickin, drop and give him 20 or something.”

“Oh hell,” Izuku said, throwing his head back. “There is no way Hagakure-san and Ibara-san’s not going to tell everyone, including the teachers, about us. The teachers are going to find out, and they’re absolutely going to tell my mom.”

“Have you not already?” Momo asked as they arrived at her waiting room.

“Best case scenario,” Izuku said as they went in and took their seats, “I got my tears from her, and the waterworks will be unlike anything seen before. Worst case, we’re pretty sure I have a half-brother as old as her marriage to my father.”

“Yikes,” Ochako said with a grimace.

“Pretty sure?” Momo asked.

“So how are you two going to take on Tokoyami-kun and Kacchan?” Izuku asked, not even trying to hide the abrupt topic change.

“Kacchan?” Ochako asked, her brows furrowed.

“Oh sorry, Bakugo Katsuki and I knew each other since we were kids. We were friends for years, and since toddler me couldn’t say Katsuki-chan, I started calling him Kacchan. The name stuck,” Izuku said with a shrug.

The girls scowled. “Why is this the first time we’re hearing of a friend you’ve had since childhood?” Momo asked coldly.

Izuku began rubbing the back of his neck. “He ended up getting the best quirk in our class, and I didn’t get any. We uh, we stopped being friends after that.”

“And what’s his quirk exactly?” Ochako asked with murder in her eyes. “Just so I know which bones I need to break to—”

“He’s not that bad!” Izuku interjected. “You don’t need to break any bones or anything! He was just a bit of a jerk growing up, and he’s getting better now!”

‘He told you to kill yourself,’ En reminded him.

‘That was one time!’ Izuku thought back. ‘Literally everyone else in class did it a bunch more than that!’

‘I’m dragging your entire school to Hell,’ Nana said. ‘All of them. No survivors.’

“But his quirk is Explosion,” Izuku explained. “He sweats nitroglycerine and can explode the sweat on his palms on command.”

“Close quarter fighter, will likely get stronger the longer the fight goes on, and highly destructive, though since he managed to get into UA he’s likely to have some measure of control and avoid significantly damaging his enemies,” Momo said.

“Wasn’t there some guy in the Cavalry battle who was flying around on explosions coming from his hands?” Ochako asked. “It was probably him; that’s the same methods rockets use to propel themselves. Well, they don’t use nitroglycerine, but still.”

Izuku was about to ask if she wanted help with coming up with a plan, but before he could Midnight’s voice came out from the TV hanging in the corner of the ceiling. “Aoyama is unconscious! He is unable to continue, which means Ashido is the victor!”

“My turn,” Momo said, her voice wavering for a moment.

“Hey,” Izuku said, giving Momo pause. “You’ll do great. I’d wish you good luck, but I know you don’t need it.”

Momo departed with a smile.

As it turned out however, she could really have used some luck.

Izuku was out of the room before she reached the gate.

He found her sitting against the wall, curled up in a ball, tears in her eyes.

Shoving his predecessors into a box, Izuku sat beside her and held her close. The moment his arms were around her, she clung to him, head on his shoulder, and let out a sob.

They sat there for a moment, her enjoying the feeling of his hands gently rubbing circles on her back, him fighting back tears of sympathy as large as the ones of sorrow she soaked his shoulder with.

After what felt like an eternity, Momo’s sobs stopped and her tears began to dry. Only then did Izuku speak.

“You did amazing,” he said resolutely. She huffed, clearly not believing him. “I’m serious, like, look. Everyone in class has our own specialties, their own things that they’re good at. I’m the best melee fighter, Todoroki-kun the best ranged fighter, Jiro-san our best scout. Tokoyami-kun? He’s probably, no definitely the best mid ranged fighter in the whole class, and one of our best at 1v1s. You excel at plans, at defending positions, and at either long or close ranged combat. Unfortunately you didn’t have much time to plan, and what little you had was spent dealing with my issues, and for that I’m sorry, but when it was your turn you walked into that ring, facing off at mid-range, against a single opponent. I’m sorry, but you were kinda screwed from the start.”

“You said I’d do great,” Momo said into his shoulder. “Did you mean it then, or now? Both can’t be true.”

“Greatness doesn’t mean winning. You went out there, deck as stacked against you as possible, and you still held your own.”

Momo let out a bitter laugh. “I lost seconds after the match started! This was all to get us internships, but who would want an intern that lost that badly!?”

“The first thing you did, as Dark Shadow was closing the distance, was make a bo staff to try and fight her off. You managed to parry the first attack, but noticing that it hurt you instantly shifted your strategy and created a shield to try and play defense. This worked, and you weren’t hurt, but unfortunately you kept getting knocked back. There is not a doubt in my mind that if the ring had been any larger you could’ve come up with another plan to deal with it. You remember what happened when Dark Shadow attacked us during the cavalry battle?”

“I-I shot her?”

“That’s right, you instantly came up with an idea that would work at range to counter it. You managed to beat him once, and he needed near optimal conditions to beat you. Any hero who can look at what you accomplished today and not see how amazing you are isn’t worth the plastic that makes up their license.”

Momo laughed at that. “You of all people, the biggest hero otaku I know, saying that some heroes aren’t worth the title? I never thought I’d see the day.”

Izuku was about to start floundering for a way to bring up that not all heroes were amazing while avoiding mentioning his newly found loathing for Endeavor, but he found himself unable to speak as her lips met his.

For a moment, Izuku just sat there in complete shock, before Momo pulled back.

“I’m sorry for surprising you,” she said, her face turning red as she looked away. “I just, I’m not even sure myself you were just…”

Izuku shut her down with another kiss, this one lasting just long enough for Momo to return it.

“It’s ok Momo,” Izuku said, pulling away from her. “I get it. Though, uh, we should probably head back to the wait room.” Izuku’s free arm began scratching behind his head as he smiled anxiously. “Ochako-chan is probably freaking out.”

“It would also be unbecoming of a student at UA if you continued where people are going to be walking by,” Ilda said from behind Izuku.

The pair screamed, turning to face the intruder.

“Ilda-kun?!” Izuku shrieked, suddenly standing upright. “How long have you been there!?”

“Just recently,” the bespectacled boy said into his fist as he turned away, face dusted pink. “Though it will soon be time for my match, and if I may I request you two go elsewhere before it begins. I am personally in favor of Midoriya-kun’s suggestion, but that’s just me.”

“R-right!” Momo said, rising to her feet. “We’ll, uh, we’ll be on our way!”

Ilda said nothing, merely nodding as he walked out perhaps a bit faster than necessary, though not faster than the couple fled the scene.

‘You good kid?’ Yoichi asked as Izuku’s mental blockade slipped.

‘I’m fine,’ Izuku silently squeaked.

‘That’s a lie,’ En said.

‘What, did someone walk in on you with your hand down her pants?’ Daigoro asked.

Izuku actually jumped.

“Are you ok?” Momo asked, started at the movement.

“No, no, I’m fine, sorry, just, thinking of ways that could’ve gone worse, is all.”

Momo grimaced. “Please do not tell me, I’m already having a hard enough time trying to steady myself.”

“Yeah no obviously,” Izuku said, before returning his focus on his predecessors. ‘What the fuck Banjo-san! No, we didn’t do, anything like that! Ilda-kun just saw us kissing!’

‘Hey, it got you to tell us what happened, didn’t it?’ Daigoro said before being shoved in a box, much to the amusement of his compatriots.

‘I hate all of you,’ Izuku thought without venom. They replied, but Izuku pointedly ignored them, instead focusing on his other girlfriend, who as he walked into their prep room was still clearly upset and awaiting a fight against the strongest person in 1-B.

Chapter Text

“For the final match of the first round!” Present Mic announced as a pair of students approached the arena. “On one side, a celebrity since his middle school days, with a face only a mother could love! It’s Bakugo Katsuki from class 1-B! On the other, my personal pick for who’s walking out of here with a golden medal, Uraraka Ochako!”

‘Fucking hell,’ Katsuki thought with a frown. ‘Assholes not even bothering to hide his favoritism.’

Katsuki looked over at his opponent. A short, soft looking girl with a brown bob of hair and a look like Katsuki was the biggest piece of shit she’d ever seen. For a moment, Katsuki wondered what he might’ve done to piss her off, but then he recognized her.

“Hey Round Face,” he said. “I watched the rest of the ex-the rest of the first round after I won. Your quirk lets you float anything you touch, right? And you’re friends with Deku, must be to join their team with that massive target on their back.”

“His name’s Midoriya,” the girl growled. “And what do you mean Round Face?”

‘Must be really close then,’ Katsuki thought. ‘I didn’t even hint at what gender Deku was and they knew who I was talking about, and there’s not a snowball’s chance in hell that he’d go by that name now that he’s in a new school. Probably talked about me during the down period, maybe even gave her some plan on how to deal with me.’

The pair remained silent until Present Mic announced the start of the match. In an instant, Uraraka charged him, hands outstretched, body low. Katsuki stayed put, swinging out with a right hook once she was close enough, the explosion going off centimeters from her face and leaving behind a cloud of smoke and debris.

‘Instincts would’ve told her to get the fuck away from me, but by now her monkey brains told her lizard brain to shut the fuck up. And now there’s this smokescreen, perfect cover for an ambush,’ Katsuki thought, eyes peeled for any movement in the smoke.

There was movement in the edge of his vision, and in an instant he was leaping toward it, grabbing hold of a sports uniform shirt and slamming it into the ground with all his force. “Don’t underesti-shit!” it was just a jacket that she’d left floating in the air, that he now had flat to the ground.

Katsuki didn’t even hear Present Mic’s announcements as he flung his hand back and let loose an explosion. As he feared, Uraraka had snuck up behind him and almost got her hands on him. She was closer than he thought though, and got a more direct hit, sending her flying back with a cry.

As she skidded to a stop, Katsuki took stock. She was behind where he’d started the match, and he’d intentionally stopped a bit short of where he was supposed to. Only a little more than two meters stood between her and the back edge of the arena. Another hit like the one she’d just tanked with what looked to be only minor scrapes and she’d be close enough that a tackle should be enough, and he was heavier than her, so he’d be able to knock her over easily if he did it fast.

‘Well,’ Katsuki thought as she got back to her feet and started charging him down, ‘Deku and that half-and-half fuck got away with way more damage than that in their matches.’ Charging forward, Katsuki met her in the middle. “Too slow!” he barked before letting out another explosion.

Once more, there was a dust cloud obscuring his vision, and Katsuki held back to assess the damage.

This time, the movement from the cloud wasn’t in the corner of his eye, but dead center, and it wasn’t a jacket, but the whole girl, screaming as she lunged at Katsuki.

‘The fuck!?’ Katsuki thought as he let another explosion rip. ‘The fuck happened to her lizard brain!?’ Again the girl charged through, seemingly unfazed by the light, sounds, heat, and pain of an explosion going off right by her face.

“Not done yet!” she roared, side stepping around the most recent explosion.

‘Shit, she noticed the edge,’ Katsuki thought, sending out another explosion. ‘The fuck am I gonna do now?’

“Uraraka-san keeps charging relentlessly,” Present Mic said, clearly upset. “But this, this is…” If he finished, Katsuki couldn’t hear it over the next explosion he let off, the bitch now back to the original angle of attack.

In the brief gaps between the explosions, Katsuki began to hear the spectators.

“Doesn’t matter how good she is at dodging,” one said.

“She’s just desperate now,” said another.

‘Idiots,’ Katsuki thought. ‘Can’t they see—’

“Hey, shouldn’t you stop the match? This is getting painful.”

“Shit!” Katsuki swore. ‘Am I going too hard on her? Can she take how hard I’m hitting? Am I going to get in trouble? But they said we have Recovery Girl, so we’re free to go all out.’

“Hey!!” called a man in the stands. Katsuki wanted to look, to see who the idiot was, but Uraraka was too slippery. “That’s not the way someone who wants to be a hero acts!” Katsuki flinched and let out the next explosion too early. “If you’re that much stronger than her, just throw her out of the ring and finish it!”

“I’m fucking trying!” Katsuki heard himself say quietly, his voice closer to a whine than he could remember it ever sounding. It must’ve been louder than he thought though, because Uraraka stopped for a moment and fell back. He wasn’t sure if that pissed him off more or if he was relieved. 

“Stop toying with the poor girl!” the man finished.

“Yeah, he’s right!” a woman said. Katsuki recognized her voice belonging to the pro-hero Toy-toy.

‘Fuck, even pros?’ Katsuki thought, his vision starting to blur for some reason as the crowd started booing. ‘Fuck, please, please tell me Ms. Fetishwear won’t side with them. I’m trying so hard to hold back, to not go too far, please I can’t get expelled for this!’

Before Katsuki could even turn to look at Midnight, Present Mic’s voice drowned them all out. “A group in the crowd has started booing!” The pro sounded stressed out. Katsuki felt his throat tighten. “But to be honest, I agr—”

So that was it. Katsuki was done for. He was going to be expelled after this, no matter how it ended. Katsuki recalled back to what the principal had said when he and Dracula showed up at his house.

“And please keep in mind, young Bakugo, that in your case expulsion would also mean receiving the villain rank you’ve earned for yourself. And do you know what would happen to you if you became an A-rank? Especially while in a building entirely staffed by pro-heroes?”

Present Mic continued. “Ack! An elbow!? What’s the big idea?!”

A voice Katsuki didn’t recognize came out over the intercom. “Is the one who said he’s toying with her a hero? How many years of active duty? No, doesn’t matter, because if that’s what you’re taking away from this, you can just leave, there’s no point in you watching. Go home and start looking at job hunting sites. She’s come this far, and he knows her strength.” ‘Do I though? Doesn’t fucking feel like it.’ “His caution shows that he recognizes her as a worthy opponent.” ‘More like I’m afraid I’ll break her.’ “It’s exactly because he wants to win so badly that there’s no room for carelessness or holding back.”

‘Shit, he’s right. Need to focus. She hasn’t attacked me since the booing started. She’s standing just fine. Panting a bit, still pissed, but not yet. She’s still got fight in her.’

“Almost,” Uraraka panted, “almost ready.”

Before Katsuki could even question what was almost ready, she resumed her assault, charging in before deftly avoiding his explosions and fading back into the debris cloud to repeat it once, twice more, before finally speaking again. “Thanks, Bakugo-san, thanks for not dropping your guard.” With a serious look on her face, she brought her hands together, pressing fingertip to fingertip.

“Huh?” Katsuki said, dumbfounded for a moment.

Then a pebble hit the top of his head.

Katsuki looked up in horror, instantly realizing why the girl had kept her body low as he saw that the sky was filled with chunks of concrete, some small, some large, all together covering nearly the entire arena so that if they fell there wouldn’t be anywhere safe to stand.

And they were all falling.

‘Shit shit shit SHIT!’ Katsuki thought as he held up one hand and, bracing it for impact, let loose the largest explosion he’d ever made without his suit.

The instant the blast cleared, Katsuki checked the sky. It was empty. He was safe.

Letting out a sigh, Katsuki looked at his opponent. She’d been knocked back by the blast and hadn’t gotten back to her feet this time. Not yet at least.

Wanting to buy time till his ears stopped ringing, Katsuki spoke. “This was a good plan,” he said. “You get it from Deku? Nearly fucking got me there. That was the hardest fight I’ve ever had.” Katsuki would’ve continued talking, but the look on her face changed.

“In one attack!” she squeaked, her face a mask of pure unbridled terror.

‘Stop fucking looking at me like that,’ he thought. ‘I’m not a villain. I’m not trying to be scary. Yeah we’re fighting, but it’s just a stupid sports festival, it’s just a game. I’m not gonna do anything, I swear.’

“What an explosion!” Present Mic announced. “Uraraka-san’s secret plan just went up in smoke! Will she be able to hold on against Bakugo-san’s brutal onslaught?”

The phrasing clicked something in Katsuki’s brain. He’d seen news coverage of some big muscular villain’s attacks. The news anchors all had their own wording for it, slaughter, vicious, carnage, animalistic, rampage, but one word stuck out to Katsuki at that moment. Brutal.

He remembered the way Izuku looked when he bullied him.

It looked just like Uraraka’s did at that moment.

‘Yeah. This is all just a stupid fucking game at the end of the day. If I can’t win without acting like a fucking villain, I can’t be number one. Not yet. Someday I will be, but not now.’

While Katsuki had his epiphany, Uraraka had gotten to her feet and began to run at him. He made no move to stop her, or defend himself.

Unfortunately, he didn’t need it. She fell over before she even got close.

Immediately, Midnight was beside her, assessing the damage, her hand up to hold Katsuki back instead freezing him where he stood. After a moment, the teacher stood up.

“Uraraka Ochako is unable to continue,” she announced over the intercom. “Bakugo Katsuki moves on to the next round!”

Katsuki couldn’t remember a time where victory tasted so sour.

——————————

“Guess I lost!” Ochako beamed as she walked into the prep-room the polycule had claimed as their own. “I got carried away at the end when I thought I could actually win.”

“Ochako-chan, are you hurt?” Izuku asked, immediately appearing by her side and checking her over.

“Oh I’m good!” she said perhaps too cheerily. “Well, I’m a little hurt still, Recovery Girl didn’t want to drain all my stamina and have me passed out in her office, but she only left behind some little scrapes!”

“Uraraka-chan,” Momo said, “you don’t need to keep up a brave face in front of us if you’re actually upset.”

“I’m fine, I promise!” Ochako lied. “Just gotta try harder next time!”

Izuku wanted to say something, but was cut off by Ochako’s phone ringing.

“Oh, it’s my Pa, I uh, I need to take this.”

“That’s fine,” Izuku said, checking the time and hiding how crestfallen he was as well. “My next match is coming up soon anyway, so I’ll give you space. I’ll see you back in the stands?”

“Yeah, that’s fine, sorry. Good luck with, wait your match is against Ibara-san right?” Izuku nodded. “Kick her ass for me!” Ochako swore, giving a thumbs up.

Izuku snorted as he made his way out. “I love you so much,” he said casually before closing the door behind him.

Ochako was stunned for a moment. Izuku had just, said, that, to her, now.

She turned to face Momo, who was also surprised, albeit not as much. “Did, did you hear that too?” she asked the heiress.

“Yes I did. I take it that was the first time he said it to you?”

“Yep, uh, he say it to you yet?”

“No, though we did have our first kiss after my loss.”

“That’s fair, honestly,” Ochako said, taking a seat at the table next to Momo. “Honestly, knowing Izuku-kun? The second he realizes what he said he’ll—” the pair heard Izuku’s muffled screams from down the fall. “There it is!” Ochako laughed.

Momo let herself chuckle as well, before standing up. “It seems you missed the call,” she said, heading out, “but I’ll give you your privacy to speak with your parents. I’m heading up to the class’ view box.”

“Alright, have fun, I’ll be up soon to make sure Izuku-kun does what I asked,” Ochako said, pulling out her phone. Her smile didn’t dim as she dialed in the number and slipped back into her accent. “Sorry I missed ya call Pa,” she said when the call connected.

“It’s no problem Sweetie!” her father said. “Yer Ma and I saw the whole thing on TV! It was so close! Ya did amazin’.”

“No it wasn’,” Ochako denied, her smile fading. “I panicked at the end, and that last-ditch effort left me with nothing, I coul’n’t even touch tha guy for fucks sake!”

“That right? Didn’ look like that ta us. Looked like that boy you ‘re fightin’ was ‘bouta fall over himself if you ha’n’t beaten him ta tha punch. ‘Sides, just cuz ya lost don’ mean it’s over. Ya got two more years a these things, right?”

“It don’t matta if you don’ win though. Ya gotta show how ya deal with all types. Tha scouts can’ learn shit from losin’ in tha first match.”

“Whats tha rush though?”

“I mean,” Ochako said, holding back tears. “I have ta, for you ‘n Ma.”

“Ochako sweetie,” her father said, voice gentle and concerned. “Ya don’ gotta go crazy ova us. Either way, I know my kind little Ochako is gonna be a great hero one day. ‘Sides, yer Ma ‘n I just got off tha phone with someone. Said tha Yaoyorozu Corp was interested in buyin’ tha company, ‘n was even willin’ ta keep yer Ma ‘n me in charge, plus keepin’ all tha staff! Turns out they’re lookin’ fer a way ta deal with buildin’ ‘n maintainin’ those big theme parks they got. Said they ‘eard bout us from somewhere ‘n liked what they saw!”

Ochako was stunned. “Pa, when’d this happen?”

“Just earlier taday, before tha 1v1s. Speakin’ of, a few matches ‘fore yours there was a girl called Yaoyorozu. I think the announcer said she was in your class? You two friends?”

Ochako proceeded to swear profusely for nearly a minute.

“Takin’ that as a yes then?” her father laughed nervously.

“Yeah I fuckin’ know ‘er! Tha bitch ‘n I share a fuckin’ boyfriend!”

“You have a WHAT!?” her father roared.

“Ah shit, I shouldn’ta said that,” Ochako swore, failing to notice the spikey blonde haired boy who’d arrived outside her door shortly after Momo departed clenching his fists for reasons he didn’t understand before leaving.

Chapter Text

Izuku’s match against Ibara was going quite well. ‘Is it wrong that I’m surprised I’ve been able to go this far without even bleeding?’

‘Considering she’s really fucking pissed and mostly attacks by either restraining you or stabbing you with thorns,’ Daigoro said, ‘naw, being able to take her on and not even get scratched is actually pretty impressive.’

Ibara however was not enthused by how hard she was losing.

“Blaspheming adulterer!” she shouted as her hair erupted from under Izuku’s feet.

“In order to be a blasphemer I’d have to actually be a part of your faith,” Izuku said, suddenly appearing behind her as he dove his fist into her side. “And I’d have to be married to be an adulterer.”

“It doesn’t matter!” Ibara said, sliding to the edge of the arena as she fell to her knee. “You are still committing a sin by being with two women at once! How did they feel when they found out you were cheating on them!?”

“I’m not cheating on them!” Izuku said. “They confessed, I told them I liked them both, I brought up how my uncle has two husbands, and they willingly started dating me knowing that! I’ve been transparent the entire time!”

It looked like Midnight was about to say something, when he said that, but he didn’t give her the chance, instead punching Ibara in the face hard enough to send her flying.

As Present Mic announced his victory, Izuku turned to Midnight. “I’m pretty sure I just felt her nose break, she’s gonna need to see Recovery Girl.” If she responded, Izuku wasn’t there to hear it.

“The person in class least accepting of our relationship is now in a room with my mom,” Izuku said as he entered 1-A’s viewbox.

“That now makes two sets of parents that know,” Ochako said. I let it slip while on call with my Pa. It went. About as well as I’d expect.”

“How badly does he hate me?” Izuku asked as he sat down.

“I actually missed everything but the end of your fight because he kept swearing and saying, let’s say unkind things about you.”

“Oh dear. I am once more quite glad my parents won’t have an issue with us.”

“How do you know that?” Hagakure asked.

“My elder brother and I have different fathers.”

The view box fell silent after that, only broken when Kaminari swore under his breath, saying “Fucking rich people.”

“No, no that’s just another case of ‘the Yaoyorozus are weird.’”

“Another case?” Hagakure asked. “How do you know about the others!?”

“My dad’s the lead singer for Deep Dope, rich people know other rich people, and freaks attract other freaks, affectionately.”

“I understood as much,” Momo said. “The things my parents have said about your father…” Momo shook her head with a smile.

The viewbox returned to normalcy after that. There was a brief stint of laughter as Ibara stumbled back in, but after that the class focused on the ongoing matches.

Soon it was time for Izuku to go down and prepare for his match against Todoroki Shoto, who’d won his match against 1-B’s Tetsutetsu clone by a landslide.

Making his way toward the stairs down, Izuku jumped as the Flame Hero rounded the corner before him.

“Endeavor!” Izuku shrieked as he stared up at the towering figure of the number 2 hero.

“There you are,” the hero said.

“Endeavor, w-what are you doing back here?” Izuku stammered. ‘He’s so intimidating up close!’

‘I forgot how tall he was,’ Nana said.

‘Yeah, Eighth is a full head taller than him,’ Daigoro said. ‘And now we’re a head shorter.’

Oblivious to the talking ghosts, Endeavor spoke. “I saw what you did out there. Truly an amazing quirk, able to move with that much speed and control. And from how high you were able to leap in the second event, I’d say you were holding back.”

“W-what are you getting at? I have to get going!” Izuku quickly walked around the giant of a man.

“My boy, Shoto,” Endeavor said, freezing Izuku mid step. “He has a duty to surpass All Might. His match against you will prove a valuable test. Make sure you don’t make the same mistake you did against the vine girl.”

Endeavor began to walk away, but Izuku spoke up. “I’m not All Might.”

“Well of course you’re n—”

“Right,” Izuku interrupted. “Of course I’m not. And Todoroki isn’t you.”

Endeavor gave off a huff before going to leave.

“And even if he was, would you want him to be?”

“Hmm?” Once more the number 2 hero paused.

“Did you know that All Might had a mentor when he was mine and Shoto’s age? Two mentors actually.”

“No I did not. How did you know?”

“Because one of them was my grandmother. Her hero name was Nimbus. Are you familiar with her at all?”

“Nimbus you say? When was she last active?”

“A villain killed her 40 years ago.”

Endeavor scoffed. “So not only did she fail to stop a petty crook, but she’s been dead since I got my quirk. Why would I even know of her?”

“I didn’t expect you to,” Izuku said. “But then, you shouldn’t be surprised if someone says the same about you once Todoroki-kun debuts and you retire.”

“Hmph. Nimbus and I are different. I have been the number 2 hero for decades! And his father besides.”

“Nimbus held the number 1 spot for nearly as long.”

‘Thanks in part to me and Leafy,’ En said before Izuku shoved him in a box.

“And she didn’t die fighting ‘a petty crook,’” Izuku corrected. “Look up the Shinjuku Massacre. The villain behind it managed to escape the heroes at that time, and went on to kill her.”

Izuku quickly walked down the stairs at that, ignoring Endeavor’s protests and arriving at the entrance to the arena just in time for him to walk out.

“And now it’s time for the first match of the 2138 first year semi-finals!” Present Mic announced to the roaring crowd, probably the loudest he’d heard all day.

‘Right off the bat he’s gonna come at me with ice,’ Izuku thought, readying himself.

“The two heaviest hitters of class 1-A, Midoriya Izuku, the boy who broke Shigaraki’s arm, vs. Todoroki Shoto, son of the number 2 hero!”

‘It’ll be risky if I let him fire off that power freely.’

“This match is sure to be explosive, so don’t blink if you don’t wanna miss something!”

‘You’ll need to attack as soon as this starts,’ Yoichi said.

‘Focusing 100% of my power into one of my fingers should do it,’ Izuku agreed.

‘What the fuck no don’t!’ Nana chastised. ‘You’ll break your hand!’

‘And if he doesn’t start using his fire he could end up losing his to frostbite.’

‘There’s other ways to do that!’ Nana said.

‘Which one of us is in control of the body? I don’t see any mind controllers around, do you?’

The vestiges were stunned for a moment, before quickly growing frustrated by his determination.

‘Inko-chan won’t be happy about this,’ Nana thought.

“On your marks, get set, begin!”

A glacier instantly materialized and began surging toward Izuku, only for cyclone force winds to tear it to shreds.

“What the?” Todoroki asked, a slab of ice now behind him, keeping him from getting knocked back. “How did he, no…”

“Todoroki-kun,” Izuku said through gritted teeth as he held his hand, his middle finger now bruised and bending in ways it shouldn’t.

A thundering crack kept Izuku from continuing, another snap destroying Izuku’s index finger and the second glacier.

‘Todoroki-kun’s fights always end quick, keeping me from learning how his quirk works.’ Izuku thought. ‘I’ll have to learn while fighting. Just observe and look for an opening. If you guys see anything, let me know.’

‘Duh,’ Bruce said, making Izuku nod slightly.

“You’re,” Todoroki said, stunned for a moment. “Are you trying to make this a battle of attrition? While breaking your fingers with every blow? Are you insane?”

“I was gonna ask you the same question!” Izuku shouted before flicking away another wall of ice.

‘4 o’clock, above you!’ Kudo barked, and sure enough Todoroki had charged forward under the cover of the ice and leapt up. Izuku’s whole body glowed green as he dashed back before the two-toned boy could slam his right arm down and freeze him.

Izuku’s landing wasn’t safe though, Todoroki’s ice surging forward, low to the ground, making Izuku lose his footing before he could even get it, knocking him off his feet just as another wall came rocketing forward. In a brief moment of panic Izuku flowed 100% of One for All through his entire arm, destroying all the ice in the arena and knocking the other boy away, at the cost of bruising his entire left arm.

‘Fuck that hurt,’ Izuku thought.

‘Yeah I fucking bet it does!’ Nana said.

‘Seven we can feel his sense of touch,’ Yoichi said.

‘Not the fucking point! The point is that Izuku should stop breaking himself!’

Todoroki, unable to hear the ghosts, spoke up. “Only defending and dodging? It’s taking a toll on you. Are you sure you can win a battle of attrition against me?”

“Are you!? Izuku roared. “You’re shivering Todoroki-kun! You have a limit to how much cold you can handle! Of course, you could always use your left side and thaw out, right!? But no! You’re out here, insulting everyone! Everyone here is going all out to try and win! And you think you’re gonna win with half your power?” Izuku spat on the ground between them.

Todoroki gritted his teeth before sending another blast of ice. “You already know why I refuse to use my fire!”

Izuku snarled as he flicked away the ice. Izuku looked across the arena at his opponent and, chest still aglow from his dodge, shouted as loud as he possibly could. “YOU’RE NOT THE ONLY ONE HERE WHO’S THE PRODUCT OF A QUIRK MARRIAGE!”

“What?” Todoroki fumbled as Izuku continued yelling.

“Your father bought your mom so he could have a kid who could surpass All Might and be the next number 1? Well my father tricked my mom into marrying him so that he could have a kid strong enough to kill All Might! The only difference between us is why we were born and that your father managed to get what he considered a success while I’m just a useless failure in my father’s eyes!”

“You were a failure?” Todoroki asked, now on the backfoot.

“Did you forget that I’m a later bloomer!? I didn’t figure out how to use my quirk without killing myself until the end of February! Hell, I still can’t use it all the way!” Izuku motioned to his broken arm with his broken fingers. “But I’m trying! I’m doing my damndest to do better, to get stronger, to handle more of my quirk, hell to even figure out what the fuck it can do! But you don’t have my issues, and you’re still not using your full power!”

“I refuse to use my father’s fire!”

“I don’t have that option! My mom has telekinesis! What part of my quirk is something that she could’ve done?! My quirk has nothing to do with hers, only his! And I’m still trying to be a hero! Everyone, all throughout my life, said I couldn’t be a hero, not even my own mother! But I’m still trying, I’m still giving it my all! Can you say the same!? What happens if you’re trying to save people during a blizzard, or you fight a villain that can make vibrations, or any number of other situations where your ice wouldn’t just not be helpful, but would actively make things worse?! What will you do then? Are you just going to force your ice to work regardless, costing who knows how many more people their lives!?

“I-I’ll find a way!” Todoroki said, clearly unsure of himself. “Lots of heroes find ways to help when their quirk doesn’t work!”

Izuku would’ve scoffed if he weren’t so irate. “You know what? Fine! Say you find a way around it! What then!? You told me yourself you were born to surpass All Might! And that you want to become the next number 1 hero with just your ice! Say you manage to do that! Do you really think for one second that Endeavor wouldn’t take that as a victory!? He doesn’t give a shit if you use your fire or ice, he didn’t even really give a shit what your quirk was, as long as it was stronger than his! You say you’re rebelling against your father!? Look me in the fucking eyes and tell me that he’d give a shit how you got to the number 1 spot, as long as you did!”

Todoroki fumbled with his words for a moment. “Like you’re one to talk! You were born to kill All Might, so you become a hero?! So you’re just rebelling by being the exact opposite! How is that any better than what I’m doing!?”

“I’m not going to become a hero because my dad’s a villain! I’m becoming a hero because it’s the right thing to do!”

Todoroki grit his teeth. “Fine, whatever! Why do you even care!? Your quirk is strong enough that when you figure out how to use it you’ll be way stronger than me! You’re all but guaranteed to be the next number 1!”

“Do you seriously think the number 1 hero is the strongest? Really? Ryukyo is only rank 11 and she could take on half the top 10 and win! Past a certain point it’s about popularity! All Might recently started teaching at UA! He doesn’t have time to do much hero work anymore! Hell, any hero otaku worth their salt will already be able to tell you that Endeavor has dealt with at least five times the villains All Might has every year for at least the last decade! In all the ways that matter, Endeavor is already stronger than All Might! But look around you! If All Might died today, how many people would look at Endeavor and say that everything was fine and they still felt safe!? That’s what it means to be the number one hero! That’s what it means to be the symbol of peace!”

“A-alright fine, I, I won’t ever be able to surpass All Might, so what?”

“Because All Might is old enough to have grandchildren!” For the first time during the whole fight, Izuku took a breath. If he’d been paying attention, he’d’ve noticed how quiet the rest of the arena was before he continued. “He’s 55 years old! He’s already taken a position here at UA to try and prepare the world for a time where he can’t save people anymore! In 10, 15 years, when you and I are in the prime of our lives, he won’t be there anymore, it’ll be on us! It’ll be our turn to keep the country from destroying itself! To make sure that one old man retiring won’t ever put us on the brink of collapse! And to do that we don’t just need one symbol of peace, we need as many as possible! Enough that even if the best and brightest went out, we won’t have to fall back on eugenicist assholes like your father to protect us from ones like mine!”

“L-like yours?” Todoroki thought aloud.

“So tell me Todoroki-kun, do you want to be a hero!? Because if not get the fuck off this stage!”

Todoroki said nothing in reply.

He just burst into flames.

And Izuku couldn’t have been more happy.

“What are you smiling about?” Todoroki asked with a small smile of his own. “With those wounds, now that I’m using my full power, do you even stand a chance?”

“If not, that’s fine by me,” Izuku said, his smile growing wider before he disappeared in a flash of green.

A torrent of fire and ice blasted its way across the arena toward the flash of green, the pair not even noticing the pillars of concrete being constructed between them, only to be destroyed by an explosion as the two sides clashed, sending dust and debris high above the stadium.

The dust began to settle, starting from the center of the arena and working its way out.

Or, where the center of the arena used to be, and where now there was only a hole dug deep into the dirt.

On one side of which Todoroki Shoto lay, grass beneath him.

On the other, the arena, dragged several meters away, the arena, now covered in a web of dark tendrils, at the center of which stood Midoriya Izuku, shirt now torn to shreds as the tendrils emerged from his torso.

‘Looks like I won,’ the boy thought to himself and his headmates. ‘And I even got one of your quirks too! This is Blackwhip, right? Banjo-san’s quirk?’

‘You’re right on two accounts, wrong on one.’ Daigoro said, upset for reasons Izuku couldn’t fathom. ‘That is my quirk, and you’ve probably won, but that’s not the first of our quirks you got.’

‘Huh?’

‘You had One for All active during that entire speech,’ Kudo said, amused. ‘Including in your chest.’

‘That’s how I yell really loud,’ Izuku realized. ‘But wait, my lungs can only hold so much air, how was I able to keep up with it!?’

‘Smokescreen let me make a breathable gas from anywhere on, or in, my body,’ En explained.

Izuku let out a breath from his mouth. The air came out purple.

‘Fuuuuck. How many people do you think heard that? And how much of it? The teachers probably started talking over me at some point, right? Or cut the mic where I was speaking, if nothing else?’

Izuku’s question was answered when Mei’s voice came out over the intercom. “It looks like Midoriya Izuku is the victor,” she said plainly, “but I’ll pass it back to the announcer in a bit just to be sure. The silence allowing for viewers to hear the combatant’s, ahem, ‘banter’ comes courtesy of yours truly, Hatsumei Mei.”

‘Yeah, I was gonna say,’ Yoichi said. ‘Eighth heard the whole thing, which means so did the rest of Japan.’

Chapter Text

People across Japan were stunned silent as they watched the UA Sports Festival, and in particular listened to Midoriya Izuku’s impromptu speech. As his match came to a close, there was an upheaval as the public finally started to react. Phones were called, emails sent, and social media was lit ablaze. The public was undergoing mass upheaval, enraged that the man who’d held the position as the number 2 hero for longer than some of his fans had been alive had been such a horrid person.

Some of those who viewed the match however had different responses.

——————————

In a large penthouse in Osaka, a group of pro heroes sat around a TV, food and booze sat on the table between them, each silently staring at the screen as one of the support students announced the victor.

The silence was broken as Usagiyama Rumi sipped her sake and snarked “Looks like someone’s got a fan.”

Tatsuma Ryuka sputtered. “Really Rumi-chan, that’s what you’re focusing on!?”

“Naw, I’m more focused on how much I wanna give that flaming pile of dog shit a Luna Fall to the dick.”

Every man in the room winced in sympathy.

“Which one, the number 2 or that internet friend of yours?” Takami Keigo asked. “Dust2Dust you said his name was? Still haven’t told us what he did to piss you off that bad.”

The man was very fortunate the BMI Hero was sat between him and the Rabbit Hero, meaning the egg-shaped form of the other pro hero blocked the punch the Wing Hero had rightfully earned.

“I suspect one or both of you may be called in to assist in arresting him,” Toyomitsu Taishiro said, ignoring the blow that would have bruised a rib on anyone else as he munched on yakitori. “If you’d like, I’m more than willing to assist.”

“Same,” Rumi said. “Ryuka-chan if you get called in to deal with him you’d better fucking tell me about it.”

“Just please remember it would be an arrest, not a hit job.”

“But what do ya’ll think of the kids?” Keigo asked.

“If they’ve got two brain cells to share between them, the over charged AC unit’ll go to some hero with a flame quirk. It won’t be his old man unless that talking teddybear wants to get Luna Tijerased, but he apparently hasn’t had much training with his fire, and he needs to fix that.”

“Agreed,” Ryuka nodded. “And Midoriya-san openly admitted to having poor understanding of his quirk, which appears to have several different features. He’ll want to go with someone with lots of experience with a diverse set of quirks.”

“IE you,” Rumi agreed. “But regardless of who gets him, I’m gonna see if I can see what he’s about.”

This raised the eyebrows of everyone in the room save one. Keigo, his poker face to perfect, merely smirked before saying “What was it you said when we invited you again? ‘There’s no reason to watch the welps play around, they’ve only been in training like a month? How could they even be?’ You still stand by that?”

It was at that moment Taishiro stood up to refill his drink, and Keigo got a bruised shoulder.

——————————

In a dark room in the basement of an unmarked bar in Kamino that didn’t officially have a basement, Shigaraki Tomura cackled at his computer, the only light in the room coming from its monitor.

“BWAHAHAHAHA! Holy fucking shit! Sensei I take it all back! This is so much fucking better than another fucking game of League! Holy fuck! Do my job for me why don’t ya!?”

“I asked you to watch this festival not because it would be more fun,” All for One said, clearly smiling despite both his camera being turned off and the messaging app tabbed off the screen. “Though I’m curious, why do you say the boy is doing your job? He is a hero after all, and you a villain.”

“He’s not, but he’s getting pretty close,” Shigaraki clarified. “Firstly, the kid pointed out that the rankings are bullshit, right? You get a higher score from people liking you than how good you are at clearing quests. And who the fuck’s gonna be a fan of Endeavor after this shit show! Everyone’s gonna hate him, the corps aren’t gonna pay him to put his face on shit, he’ll lose his money, and like you said when I got back from USJ a ruined rep’ll mean no one wants to team with him. Asshole is done, his career is ruined, GG.”

“And you said that the USJ attack had an upside,” Shigaraki continued, “in that it spooked the NPCs, made them realize that nowhere was safe if I could break onto UA during one of their hero tutorials and bring a small army with me. Player 2 over there just told everyone that All Might is actually a Jagen who’ll have to drop out soon, and that he fucked up by not leaving anyone to take his place. It also gives me an excellent idea on how to deal with the bastard.”

“An excellent assessment!” All for One said, even clapping to praise his pupil. “I am interested in how you intend on dealing with my arch nemesis, but I would like to advise caution. You recall how your last meeting with the man went.”

Shigaraki scratched at his neck, though it was more of a rub thanks to the quirk his Sensei had given him to help recover. Of all the issues that came with being a humanoid salamander, not having fingernails was probably the most annoying. “I know Sensei, I won’t let it happen again.”

——————————

In a dark alley way in Hosu, the Hero Killer Stain looked down at his phone in a mix of horror and rage as the sounds of Present Mic’s take on the match came through the one earbud he had on.

This Midoriya boy had proven himself a true hero, that much was clear. To come from a background so dark, yet strive to be a hero for no reason other than it being the right thing, it was something from a storybook. Truly he would be the example for the next generation of fakes to try and fail to emulate.

But Endeavor, oh Endeavor. He would be the next fake Stain would purge. A quirk marriage, really? And all so he could force the product of his eugenics program to surpass the unsurpassable. The boy would be given leniency, at least for now, until he had proven that Midoriya had failed to make him a true hero. His father would not be so lucky.

But before then, Stain had to stay focused on his current quarry. The Turbo Hero: Ingenium, one of the worst fakes to have ever fallen in Stain’s sights, would be passing through this alley during his patrol. Not only did the fake force his dozens of sidekicks to do all his work for him, not only was he only a hero because of family tradition and not because he himself actually cared about the title and what it meant to be a hero, the fake was close to the Skycrawler, a vigilante who’d escaped the arm of the law by fleeing the country, only to come crawling back the second the statute of limitations was over! Holding his wedding the very first day he was allowed back in the country! Daring everyone to realize he’d been back for who knows how long!

Stain ground his teeth as he heard the fake approach. He disliked when he let his rage overwhelm him; it ran the risk of making him sloppy. But for this fake, he could make an exception. All it would do was ensure the fake was given a closed casket funeral.

——————————

The Bakugos were once more glad they’d been allowed to stay in the UA staff view box. Not only were they almost certain the people around them would’ve been too loud for them to hear what was being said, sitting next to principle Nezu himself allowed them to have access to every microphone in the stadium, or in this case just the ones closest to the battlefield, letting them hear the entire speech clearly.

“Holy fuck,” Mitsuki swore. “Is that what Inko-chan meant when she said Hizashi was doing illegal shit? Cause that’s, that doesn’t even begin to describe the shit that must’ve gone down there.”

“Indeed,” Yagi said. “And before you ask, yes, All Might was well aware of the purpose behind young Izuku’s conception.”

“How’d he take it?” Masaru asked, still shellshocked by the speech.

“Honestly? Quite well considering that he’d learned it whilst on speaker phone with the villain in question, who he’d thought he’d killed 6 years prior, yet was apparently not only still alive but also able to, to paraphrase, ‘take away his subordinate’s kneecap privileges.’”

“Holy fucking shit, what the fuck? All Might did that!?”

Hound Dog chuckled darkly as he poured himself a glass of whiskey “Young Bakugo is so much like you it’s genuinely kind of scary.”

“Pour me one as well,” Powerloader requested. “There’s no way I’m dealing with this shit show sober.”

“Save some fer me,” Snipe said as he checked his gun. “Endeavor ‘s somewhere in tha stadium, and I’m gonna hunt that varmit down.”

“I’m coming with,” Vlad King said, rising from his feet.

“I was already made aware of the situation before young Midoriya’s first match,” Nezu said, “and have begun investigating.”

“Then why is he still free?” Thirteen asked, their gloved hands clenched into fists that betrayed the calmness in their voice.

“Make no mistake,” the mammal said without any emotion as he typed away at his laptop, “I have no intention of letting him off lightly. Unfortunately, the accusations of young Todoroki being the product of eugenics is more difficult to prove than some other crimes his father has been accused of, and even then, despite my extensive intellect I am still just a mortal beast; I have my limits.”

“So what, you just want them to leave him alone!?” Mitsuki barked.

“Quite the contrary, actually. I need them to buy me as much time as they can manage, or if possible to get him to say something he shouldn’t, and for everyone else in the room to leave me alone while I work.”

——————————

Elsewhere in the stadium, class 1-A was stunned into silence.

After a moment, Ochako slowly turned her head to face Yaoyorozu. Carefully, the gravity girl spoke. “Did, did you know any of that? Because he didn’t tell me.”

“Uraraka-san!” Ilda barked. “I remind you that on our first day here Midoriya-kun mentioned that he was not at liberty to tell anyone about why his parents separated!”

“And I remember you pressing him for more info!” Ochako snapped before gathering herself. “Sh-sorry. Just, it’s a lot.”

“That’s completely understandable, Uraraka-chan,” Momo said, placing her hand on her metamour’s shoulder. “But all that I was aware of was that his father was a villain, specifically of the sort that led other villains, though the fact that he went this far is news to me. It was also made abundantly clear to me that I shouldn’t have even known that much, and the only reason I do is because Izuku-kun was muttering it when we were on the boat during the USJ attack and he'd forgotten I could understand what he was saying.”

“Wait his dad—!” Hagakure began before Shoji enveloped her entirely in his arms.

“We already know more than we should,” their tentacled classmate said. “I don’t think we should risk getting in more trouble from telling 1-B.

“Thank you for that, Shoji-san,” Ilda said. “Now then, based on how badly injured Modoriya-kun was during the match, he is hopefully going to the office Recovery Girl and Shimura-san are working out of during the sports festival to be healed. I am going down to check on my friend, to see if he’s alright discussing,” he chopped in the direction of the field, “that.”

“Yeah, same,” Ochako said, standing up.

“I was just about to recommend the same,” Yaoyorozu said.

“Go help your man,” Jiro said, anxiously waving them off and turning her attention not to the field, but to a certain point in the stands. A point that had a pillar of flame erupt from it during the match.

——————————

Todoroki Enji fumed as he made his way out of the stadium. He needed to speak with his PR team about this complete and utter slander. The idea that he, Endeavour, the number 2 hero, could ever do anything wrong, preposterous. It shouldn’t be difficult to prove how bogus it was either, Endeavour thought. It was clear as day that the Midoriya boy had no idea what he was talking about. There was no way All Might could be that bad at his job and still be in the top 10, let alone keep the top spot. Yes the rankings were influenced by popularity, but only once one hit the top 100. In order to get there, heroes would need to earn their spot through actual merit, and even then, being able to actually do your job was far more important than popularity could ever be. All Might managing to keep the top spot, despite solving less than a 5th of Endeavor’s cases? That wasn’t mathematically possible.

As he approached the exit, he himself was approached by a number of heroes; three UA staff, two hired on as extra security. From the former there was Vlad King, one of the heroics teachers and 1-B’s homeroom teacher, Ectoplasm, head of UA’s math department, and Snipe, who taught both of the 3rd year heroics classes. From the latter, Kamui Woods and Mt. Lady. On instinct, Endeavor instantly thought of how to handle the group if things took a turn for combat.

The rookie slut and the sentient tree would be easily dealt with. The former wouldn’t be able to fit in the corridor if she used her quirk, and the former had a notable case of pyrophobia, a case strong enough that merely standing next to the flaming form of Endeavor was causing him distress. One blast and both would be incapacitated.

The teachers would be more difficult. Endeavor would need to risk overheating to vaporize Vlad King’s blood, then need to take down who knows how many duplicates of the mathematician, all while avoiding getting shot. Snipe would need to go first, then Vlad King, then as many Ectoplasms as possible. Kamui Woods and his bitch could be dealt with during that.

Endeavor never knew how to feel about that instinct.

“Do you have business with me?” he said, allowing some of his anger to seep in.

“We heard the broadcast,” Kamui Woods said. Endeavor was intrigued in the lack of waver in his voice. Perhaps he’d need to be dealt with more directly.

“Yes, you and the rest of the stadium. All unsubstantiated slander, I assure you.”

“Then why didn’t young Todoroki deny it?” Mt. Lady asked.

“A misunderstanding, nothing more. His mother has been institutionalized for most of his life, and I have been busy with hero work. He must have come to some false conclusions regarding my wife and I’s relationship.”

Snipe nodded, seemingly in agreement. “That’s real interestin’,” he said, before gesturing to his head, likely at an earpiece he had on under his helmet. “Cause Bossrat’s been doing some digging since tha start a tha elimination rounds. Looks like ya met yer wife via a matchmaker? Who went outta business not long afta cause they were doin’ biz with human traffickers.”

“I fail to see how the crimes of a man I met all of perhaps twice has anything to do with this situation,” Endeavor growled, “And I would like to leave. My PR team will want to speak with me on how to deal with this scandal.”

“You see no connection between a man arrested for mail order brides and the fact you’d previously employed his services?” Vlad King asked icily.

“Has Mr. Principal determined that all of the matchmaker’s work was fraudulent? Because when he was arrested I made sure to investigate if that was the case, and found several instances where his work was perfectly legal, mine included.”

“So you’re saying you didn’t just marry her for her quirk?” Mt. Lady asked dismissively. “That she’s not just breeding stock for your little eugenics program you allegedly have going on?”

Endeavor clenched his fist. “If you are attempting to get a rise out of me, you will need to work on your interrogation tactics. And speaking of interrogations,” Endeavor made sure to lean forward, towering over the assembled heroes, “unless you have any actual evidence of wrongdoing on my part, I’m needed elsewhere, and will be leaving.”

The heroes said nothing, though they took longer than strictly necessary to make a path.

Endeavor didn’t even make it outside before vultures with more ego then sense tried to swarm him. Fortunately the hamsters they had running on wheels to power their brain worked enough to realize getting too close to the large flaming man who had heat waves radiating off of him might not have been a good idea, allowing him to get in his car unaccosted.

“Take me to my agency,” he commanded his driver. “Back entrance, and make sure I’m not followed.”

Chapter Text

Izuku winced as he was carried into the nurse’s office, and not from the pain in his arms.

“Shuzenji-san,” Inko said coldly from her chair, her expression of controlled calmness only disturbed by her brow briefly dipping to a scowl as her son entered the room, “will you need my help for this?”

‘Oh fuck she’s pissed,’ Izuku thought.

‘What do you want us to put on your tombstone?’ Daigoro joked.

“I should be fine, Shimura-san,” Recovery Girl said, examining his arms. “Oh jeez, one arm completely broken, the other dislocated with more fingers broken than not. Are you trying to lose your arms?”

“What? It’s not that AIE!” Izuku said as Recovery Girl popped his arm back into its socket.

“Izuku,” Inko said, rage bubbling just below a calm surface. “If you break your arms often enough, it will cause nerve damage, which no healing quirk either Shuzenji-san and I had even heard of can recover. If you keep doing this, you’ll lose the ability to use your arms.”

Bruce scoffed. ‘It takes more than just two times to do that.’

‘That doesn’t mean he should keep doing it!’ Nana chastised. ‘You haven’t practiced medicine since Chiyo-chan was born! Shit’s probably changed since then!’

A wave of exhaustion came over Izuku as Recovery Girl pulled her lips away. Getting out of the stretcher he’d arrived in, he nearly immediately doubled over as her cane struck his knees.

“There it is!” he squeaked in pain.

“Well if you’re familiar enough to expect it maybe you shouldn’t be hurting yourself!” Recovery Girl barked before returning to her chair. “Besides, that was in part for the speech you just gave on national television.”

Izuku instantly withdrew into himself, blocking out the voices in his head in the process. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to mess it up like that, I was just trying to help Todoroki-kun. I didn’t know everyone could hear me. I just wanted to help him get over his issues with his fire.”

“It’s alright Izuku,” Inko said, maternal concern breaking through her anger. “It was an accident, no one would hold it against you.”

“It wasn’t how I intended it to come across,” Recovery Girl said. “I meant it as how you’ve now made an enemy of the number 2 hero, who himself likely has allies in the government. This is to say nothing of the fact people will treat you differently now that they know some of what your father was up to.”

“Oh crap, right, Mom I’m so sorry for spilling that, I should’ve been more careful!”

“It’s alright dear.”

“That’d be a lot more convincing if you weren’t fighting the urge to openly scowl at him the entire time between previous match and this one,” Recovery Girl said, handing Izuku a handful of energizing gummies.

Izuku’s spine went straight as his eyes went wide.

“Oh. Right. Uh. I take it Ibara-san said something?”

Inko returned to her controlled calm demeanor. “Yes. She told me something I’d really have rather learned from you, and something which has me questioning certain things.”

“They’ve known about each other the whole time!” Izuku quickly interjected, his anxiety on full blast. “I brought up the idea of an open relationship and they both seemed receptive! I didn’t do anything to force them, I just told them about how uncle Yoichi has two husbands and was personally ok with a similar agreement! They said they were ok with it and have had no problems since, I swear!”

Inko hummed in contemplation. “Are you sure they’re ok with this arrangement, not just faking it?”

“We’ve been together since the first school day after the USJ, that’s 2 weeks, and if they have any issues they haven’t told me about them.”

“So you’ve been dating them for that long and haven’t told me?”

“We’ve been too focused on the sports festival to even have our first dates yet, there really wasn’t anything to talk about.” Izuku looked into the distance for a moment. “And Grandma wanted me to remind you that they can still look through Yagi-sensei’s eyes, and apparently they learned something she felt was relevant to this conversation? She’s not saying how, which I’d really like to know, doesn’t matter who tells me.”

Inko’s face flushed pink, but before she could flail about for an explanation, the door to the office was flung open.

“Izuku-kun are you alright!?” Ochako asked as she, Momo, and Ilda came in.

It was the best Izuku could do to keep from jumping into the air, something that wouldn’t have ended well since he reflexively activated One for All. “What the! Oh, oh it’s just you three. Sorry, surprised me was all. Anyway, I’m fine, Recovery Girl healed me up just fine, doesn’t look like there’s even any scarring.”

“I don’t think that was what she meant, Midoriya-kun,” Ilda chopped.

“Yeah, I meant just,” Ochako didn’t know how to continue.

Izuku let out a deep breath. “I take it you heard everything?” his friend and girlfriends nodded. “Alright. Yeah, that’s fine too. I’ve known all of it since the day after the entrance exam. Well, the stuff I said about my dad. Momo, Ochako, you remember how Todoroki-kun wanted to talk to me after the cavalry battle?”

“It was about that then?” Momo asked.

“Yep. Well actually he was once again convinced I was All Might’s son, which,” Izuku snorted. “I wish.”

“Yeah I’m pretty sure that rumor just got put in the ground for good,” Ochako said, nervously trying to lighten the mood.

Izuku nodded. “And then when I asked why he was still on it, he spilled the beans about his family. What I talked about out there wasn’t even all of it, for either of us actually. But no, I’m not saying the rest here.”

“I would expect not,” Momo said, before clenching her fists and making a face. “Though, I should note that I may have let slip that you at one point suspect he may have been the mastermind behind the USJ.”

“For Pete’s sake,” Recovery Girl said, shaking her head. “You kids need to learn about opsec. It’s a miracle more secrets haven’t come out.”

‘Genuinely,’ Daigoro said, ‘at this point I’m just waiting for One for All to get found out.’

“That won’t be until the end of the Sports Festival,” Izuku said, “and before then I have one more match, and I’d like to know who I’m going up against. Mom, Recovery Girl-san, do you need me for anything, or can I head to my prep room?”

“You’re good to go,” Inko said. “Yaoyorozu-chan, Uraraka-chan, please stay behind, I’d like to speak with you without Izuku around.”

The teens all inhaled sharply.

“I feel the need to apologize in advance,” Izuku said as he turned to leave.

“Midoriya-kun, if you don’t mind,” Ilda said, slightly more stiff than normally, “I would like to escort you to the prep room!”

——————————

Katsuki clenched his teeth as Ms. Fetishwear announced his victory over the bird kid from 1-A, and Present Mic confirmed the final match up.

Hands firmly in his pockets, he walked back to his prep room. That was his third match for the day, and it was starting a trend of each one being easier than last. Bird kid put up a fight, but he might as well’ve forfeited the second Katsuki figured out he had a weakness to light. At least Eren Jager forced Katsuki to stay in the air the whole time, but once he was up there the guy was as good as quirkless. Neither of them could hold a candle against Round Face. Neither could give him the excuse to bow out like he wanted.

‘It should be her going up against Deku,’ Katsuki thought bitterly. ‘She’d be going against her boyfriend, they could flirt while they fought, it’d be sweet. But no. I had to go and blow her to smithereens in the first fucking round, he has a shitty time for the rest of the day, and now he’s forced to fight the main villain of his life. Or one of ‘em at least. Matter of fucking debate if I’m worse than his sperm donor. I know I was worse before UA, and one way or other he’ll be worse going forward.’

Katsuki kicked open the door to his prep room and sat down at a table, silently thankful that Hound Dog had come like he’d asked.

“Mind if I ask why you wanted an impromptu session?” Hound Dog asked.

“Like you don’t already know,” Katsuki said to the table, hands still in his pockets. “I’m gonna be fighting Deku. Am I gonna get in trouble for even going out there?”

Hound Dog scoffed. “If you did, that’d be called entrapment, and wouldn’t be able to hold up in court. No, you’ll be fine to go out there and try as hard as you want.”

“No I won’t!” Katsuki yelled, finally looking up before flinching. “Shit. Didn’t mean to yell at you. But I’m serious. There are limits to what I can get away with, and I wanna know what they are. I’m already on thin ice. I’m not risking cracking it without knowing how thin.”

“You’re not on thin ice,” Hound Dog corrected, “not compared to any other student.”

“Other students can’t hit as hard as me, and the ones that can still have the option of hitting a lot softer than my weakest. I go from quirkless to throwing rocks in their face harder than any baseline person could to hitting them with a fucking grenade, with no steps between. I hit hard enough that even when I’m on the backfoot, barely able to defend myself, every fucking hero in the stands calls me a villain in the making, and the cockatoo they’ve got announcing sides with them.”

Hound Dog shook his head. “I’m going to need to have a talk with Present Mic about how he handled your first match. But beyond that, I swear on my teaching, therapy, and hero licenses, if you start to go too far, Cementoss and Midnight will stop you, and as long as you don’t keep going after they’ve called the fight, you won’t get in any trouble. Does that sound good to you?”

It didn’t, but Katsuki could tell he wasn’t going to get anything that would out of the man, so he let him go and waited for it to be time for him to head to the arena.

A time that came all too soon.

Katsuki shuffled out onto the arena, coming to a stop across from Deku, whose face was set and determined. An expression anyone who knew Katsuki could tell he wasn’t making.

Huffing, Katsuki decided to speak in the brief time before the match started. “Hey Deku, you know Round Face, the girl I fought in the first round?” he asked, feigning knowledge of their relationship.

This confused Deku for a moment. “Yeah, I know her, why?”

“That was the hardest fight I’ve ever had, and if she hadn’t passed out when she had I’d’ve yielded. If she wants to train with me some time, let me know, I’ll find a way to fit her into my schedule.”

Deku nearly stumbled back in surprise as Present Mic announced the start of the match. A moment later, he knit his brows and charged forward, lighting up bright green before slamming his shoulder into Katsuki’s stomach, knocking the explosive blonde backwards, where he let loose an explosion aimed at the ground, throwing up a cloud of dust and tossing debris every which way.

The cloud dissipated with a wave of Deku’s glowing green arm, to reveal the boy standing there, seemingly confused.

This confusion only deepened when Katsuki took a combat stance, but didn’t react.

“Kacchan, is something—” was all the boy could get out before Katsuki sent out another explosion., one that was easily dodged, the green boy running behind him and punching Katsuki square in the back, causing him to stumble forward a few steps.

“Seriously Kacchan what is—” another explosion interrupted him, this time angled much lower, and with enough force behind it that Katsuki was airborne for a moment, skidding across the arena, past the middle line and approaching where Deku had started the match.

Deku instantly closed the gap and went for a grapple, which Katsuki dodged out of, throwing up a smokescreen to try and cover his escape over toward the edge.

An effort that proved futile when black tendrils erupted from Deku’s forearms and wrapped around Katsuki’s torso and arms.

“Kacchan!” Deku said, before realizing how loud he was and dimming the glow in his throat and upper chest. “Seriously Kacchan what is wrong? Why aren’t you actually trying?”

“Who says that?” Katsuki asked as he struggled against his restraints, briefly making eye contact with Midnight as he did, the teacher standing not even three meters away.

“Every time you fight, you start with a right hook,” Deku explained. “I was expecting it, that’s what the shoulder check at the start was, I was going to try and judo flip you. But you didn’t even let off your first explosion until after I’d hit you!”

“Yeah, cause I have no fucking clue what you can do! I was playing it safe!”

“Is purposefully not hitting me with what you’d been dealing out for the last decade playing it safe then?”

“Yes! Did you forget what we talked about that time we ran into each other in Hound Dog’s office!? I fuck up once and I become an A-rank villain! I can’t go on the offense against you, not under those circumstances! And besides, didn’t you hear what I said at the start? I was about to forfeit against your girlfriend! I don’t want to win, hell I don’t even want to get a silver medal! The extras before this just couldn’t put up enough of a fight for me to fake losing against!” Before Deku could even react Katsuki turned his head as best he could to face Midnight. “Oi! I can’t get out of these, isn’t that one of his win cons?”

Midnight made a face, one Katsuki wasn’t interested in understanding even if he knew his art teacher well enough to know what it meant, before turning on her mic. “Bakugo Katsuki is restrained and cannot move! Midoriya Izuku is the winner!”

The tentacles squeezed tighter for a moment, which Katsuki would swear did not make him squeak, before letting him go. “At some point I want an actual sparring match with you,” Deku said, his voice deeper than normal and royally pissed off.

“If you wanna go, we’re doing it through official channels, and we’re getting a teacher to make sure we don’t go too far. I refuse to get expelled just to settle a score.”

From there, both boys trudged off the field, one bitter to have been handed a win, the other bitter to have won even once.

Chapter Text

“Now let’s move on,” Midnight said as fireworks went off above the arena, “to the awards ceremony!”

Izuku was conflicted as he looked out over the crowd from his position on the top pillar. ‘Midnight obviously knew Kacchan lost on purpose,’ he thought, ‘isn’t there some sort of rule for that? There should be.’

‘Firstly,’ Kudo said, ‘how the hell would they even stop him from losing again, or hell, just yielding the match the second it starts? Secondly, the instant the damned chihuahua opened his mouth and started trash talking, he’d’ve pissed you off all the same, and you’d’ve almost instinctively used blackwhip to tie him up, just like you did last match.’

‘He absolutely wasn’t trying to escape from it,’ Izuku said, trying to keep himself from pouting.

He was brought out of his internal debate as Midnight announced that she wouldn’t be the one presenting the medals. “Instead,” she said, “they will be presented by none other than—”

As she spoke, the large, muscular form of All Might ran off the edge of the arena, soaring through the air as he did somersault after somersault, landing in front of them with a shout of a variation of his catch phrase. “I am here, with the medals!”

“—he’s everyone’s hero, All Might!” Midnight concluded.

The two exchanged quick apologies for talking over each other, before presenting the medals. They started with Tokoyami, All Might giving the boy a small bit of congratulations before continuing on to Todoroki.

“Young Todoroki,” All Might said as he put the medal around the boys neck, “Congratulations on your victory. If the allegations recently levied against your father are true, then I wholeheartedly understand why you haven’t been using your left side up until now, but regardless of the case currently being made against your father for his alleged actions, I hope that going forward you will feel more comfortable using your flames.”

“You don’t have to keep mentioning that they’re alleged,” Todoroki said, “he did everything Midoriya-kun accused him of and more.”

All Might laughed nervously for a moment. “So you say! But until it’s been proven in a court of law stating such things as fact would jeopardize the investigation, regardless of my own personal opinions on the matter!”

“Hmm. Alright. And you have Midoriya-kun to thank for me feeling better about my fire. I always wanted to be a hero like you, but I lost my way at some point, thanks to him. It’s not like I can just forget everything and get over it. It’ll take some time before I’m comfortable in my left side, there’s still something I have to settle first.”

“I would expect nothing more,” All Might said, placing a hand on the boy’s shoulder for a moment, before turning to the 2nd place podium.

“Young Bakugo,” the hero said, taking hold of the silver medal, “I must say, I was impressed with your performance today! Remember, despite what some may say,” he gave the audience a sideways glance, “it is important to never underestimate your opponent.”

“Tsk. Gimmie the fucking medal,” Katsuki said, almost snatching it out of All Might’s hands only to shove it in his pocket and return to silently sulking on the podium.

Brushing off the boy’s brash reaction, All Might took the final medal and came to the final podium.

‘Motherfucker you live in his house and he drives you to school most days, stop being starstruck!’ Bruce complained as Izuku fanboyed internally.

“Young Midoriya,” All Might began fondly. “Since we first met nearly a year ago, I have seen you grow into a truly outstanding young man. Once the weakest among your entire previous school in all ways but one, now, now the whole of the country has seen you as the amazingly kind hearted and heroic boy I met all those months ago, and while I am not enthused that they know about your father and the nature of your birth, none would assert that you are in any way what your father tried to force you to be.”

Izuku would have said something, but he was too focused on not flooding the arena with his tears to say anything as the medal was placed around his neck.

‘God I fucking hate being in the head of a teenage fanboy,’ Bruce said.

‘There’s nothing stopping you from blocking him off,’ Daigoro said. ‘Your husbands fucked off the second Eighth showed up.’

Turning back to face the rest of the arena, All Might spoke into the camera, saying “But hold on everyone! Even those not on a podium have the potential to rise up to stand here! As you have all witnessed, competition, encouragement, striving to surpass one another! These are what fuels the growth of a hero! The students of today will grow into the heroes of tomorrow! In that spirit, I have but one thing to say!”

There was a pause the length of a breath, before everyone in the stadium called out as one, shouting at the top of their lungs “Plus Ultra!”

Everyone in the stadium that is, save for the loudest voice, the voice of All Might, shouting “Thanks for the Hard Work!”

‘Such a fucking dork,’ Nana said with no small amount of fondness.

——————————

“I’ll answer any questions you have after Aizawa-sensei finishes whatever we were called in here to do,” Izuku said as he walked into the 1-A classroom. Instantly several of his classmates deflated back into their seats.

“It won’t be long,” Aizawa said, walking in shortly after Izuku. “Most of the reason we’re even having this talk now is to keep you out of the absolute flustercluck that is everyone in that arena leaving all at the same time, especially since at least some of them are going to want to talk to you as they leave. Related, going forward don’t be surprised to be identified out in public. Honestly I suggested extending the policy for 2nd and 3rd years where they can choose to wear any masks they might have on their costumes so long as it doesn’t help them win, but it got turned down. Anyway, onto what I was actually supposed to tell you about: tomorrow and the next day the 2nd and 3rd years will be having their sports festivals. As you should be able to logically deduce from the fact yours took from 9 to 4, theirs will also be taking all day, and since most of the staff are stuck dealing with that, you have those days off. In that time, pro heroes will be sending in forms listing who they want interning for them, with you getting the full list when we get back on Thursday. You’ll have until the end of the day on Friday to turn in the form for who you want to work with, with you going there on Tuesday and spending all of Golden Week there. Any questions?” Several hands went up. “Any questions regarding what I just asked?” All the hands went down. “Good. That is all.”

As Aizawa pulled out his sleeping bag to take an impromptu nap, Tsuyu spoke up. “Midoriya-kun, what was up with your fight against Todoroki-kun? We’ve never seen you using tentacles or breathing smoke.”

“Like I said, I only manifested my quirk on the day of the entrance exam, there’s a lot about it I don’t understand. The smoke breath is actually me making smoke in the lungs and shouting it out because my loud voice shouts out all the air so I’d need to replace it. I can apparently make smoke come from anywhere,” he demonstrated with a wave of his hand that let loose small whisps of purple smoke. “As for the tentacles, I have no idea but I think they might be tied to emotions or something? I was really upset with Kacchan during the finals, and just remembering my father pisses me off, let alone what Endeavor did.”

“And I’d really prefer if you didn’t talk about Endeavor,” Todoroki deadpanned from his seat. “I can talk about it myself, I just don’t want to.”

“Fair,” Izuku said. “But next question?”

“Real quick,” Kaminari asked, “less a question for you and more one for everyone else.” His eyes scanned the room but notably paused on Momo and Ochako. “Has anyone heard him swear before today?”

“Huh?”

“You told me to get the fuck off the stage if I didn’t want to be a hero, and that my father doesn’t give a shit about my quirk,” Todoroki deadpanned. “You may have sworn more than that, but those are the times that I can recall.”

“Which was also the first time I heard you swear,” Ochako said.

“Likewise,” Momo agreed.

“No, that wasn’t what I’m confused about,” Izuku said. “I’m just surprised I hadn’t sworn around you guys yet. Wait, shit, I swore on national TV. That’s gonna follow me for a while. But yeah, like, I don’t have a problem with swearing, how is this the first time you’ve heard me say it?”

“Cause you just don’t do it as often as you apparently thought you did,” Jiro said. “And just, it sounds weird coming from you, I gotta say.”

“You should get used to it,” Izuku said. “my childhood best friend’s first word was fuck, and he managed to say bitch before mama.”

“Who the fuck was this?” Ochako swore.

‘Speaking of never having heard someone swear,’ Izuku thought.

‘Though considering her parents work in construction they probably swear like a sailor,’ Hikage said. ‘All the ones that used to work for the yakuza group I was a part of certainly did.’

‘Why did the yakuza have construction workers on their payroll?’ Izuku thought.

‘Money laundering, building a compound that was much larger than the paperwork says it is, and it’s a lot easier to hide bodies if you have a backhoe and a bunch of concrete. There’s probably still a few older buildings in Osaka that have skeletons I killed stuck in their foundations.’

“Kacchan, the guy who knocked you out of the tournament.” Ignoring the scowls that came to his girlfriend’s faces, Izuku continued. “Anyway, back to questions.”

“If I may,” Tokoyami said, “All Might mentioned having met you a year ago and watched your growth. If you don’t mind my asking, what was this about?”

“I forget the exact date, but the afternoon after Mt. Lady made her debut All Might was chasing a villain with a quirk that made his entire body slime. The villain ran into me while I was on my way home from school and decided to try and hide in my body to escape. All Might luckily caught up before the villain could kill me and put the villain in a soda bottle. All Might and I talked for a bit before parting ways, but at some point the soda bottles must’ve fallen out of All Might’s pockets, because he’d escaped, taken a hostage, and was trapped by a bunch of other heroes. The problem being that the hostage was Kacchan, who was drowning and making a bunch of explosions and fires everywhere, so the heroes didn’t think it was safe to proceed and were waiting for backup. I walked by, saw that someone needed help, and ran past the heroes to try and rescue him. I’ve since been told how stupid that was, but All Might saw me do it and congratulated me on doing what the heroes wouldn’t, which led to us talking, and eventually to him introducing me to his secretary Yagi-san, who helped get me in shape for the entrance exam, with All Might himself showing on the rare occasion he had the time. If you want more details, ask one of them. Next question.”

“I have one,” Todoroki said. “You said your mom has telekinesis, which you clearly don’t have. What could your father do that you have three different effects?”

“I’m not sure I can even answer that due to an ongoing investigation,” Izuku explained. “What I can say is that it requires palm to skin contact, and he wanted a kid who could do the same thing from a distance. Which I can’t. Beyond that, there’s a lot about the whole situation I won’t be able to talk about until he’s behind bars. Or dead. There is the distinct chance that he gets killed before he gets captured.”

“My condolences,” Shoda said reflexively. “Err, if you want them.”

“Not really,” Izuku said. “He left when my quirk didn’t come in, saying he’d gotten a job in America, and hasn’t been home since, just sending money in what I suspect may have been a money laundering scheme. The last time he and I spoke, the morning after I got my quirk, he all but said that if he and I are ever in a room together again, he’s going to try and kill me.”

A quiet murmur rumbled through the room, only cut off by Hagakure speaking up. “Is that why he had something to do with the USJ attack?”

Aizawa poked his head out of his sleeping bag, clearly upset by something. “How did you come to that conclusion?”

Momo cleared her throat. “I can understand Izuku-kun when he mumbles, and while on the boat during the attack he briefly mentioned that his father was a mastermind figure who’d previously gone against All Might, leading him to speculate his father’s involvement. I mentioned this much to my classmates after Izuku-kun’s semi-final match. I also mentioned that I know more than I told them, but that I shouldn’t, and so neglected to tell them more.”

 Aizawa sighed. “So that’s why Recovery Girl is saying to push your lessons on keeping your mouths shut forward.”

“All that she knows is that he was the mastermind behind Toxic Chainsaw, and is responsible for the hardest fight of All Might’s life,” Izuku said, giving Aizawa a look to ensure the man understood what Izuku meant by that. “I spoke with All Might after the USJ, and he said I was good to say that much.”

“Fucking hell,” Tetsutetsu said in awe. “You’re dad sounds like something out of a fucking manga or something.”

Yoichi snickered at that. ‘That’s the greatest compliment I think he’s ever received. His whole thing was modeling his life to be a capital D capital L Demon Lord TM.’

Izuku huffed. ‘A teenage boy given phenomenal power at the cost of being possessed by the spirits of the dead, and now must save the world from his father, the Demon Lord. I’m the protagonist of an almost cartoonishly chunni anime.’

‘Plus have the multiple girlfriends thing,’ En said, clearly smiling. ‘Your life now has the harem tag.’

‘I will find a way to kill you twice,’ Izuku thought without any heat. “Anyway, next question?”

“I have one,” Todoroki asked. “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want, but I’m the youngest of four, each with a quirk that my father thought wasn’t good enough, and I don’t remember you having mentioned any siblings.”

“The only time I asked why I didn’t have any,” Izuku said with a serious tone while turning to face Todoroki, “my mom said that I almost did and started crying. I haven’t looked into it further, and I really don’t want anyone else to.”

Nana inhaled sharply through her teeth. ‘Yikes.’

‘Bit of an understatement there,’ Kudo agreed. ‘Fertility issues are—’

‘Shut up, all of you,’ Izuku commanded. ‘There’s a reason you’re only finding out about this now.’ Before the ghosts could respond, they were shoved in a box.

“My condolences,” Todoroki said. “I don’t have any other questions.”

Neither did any of his other classmates, it turned out, and soon the class was let out.

As they made their way out, Izuku was unsurprised to find himself flanked hand in hand by his girlfriends, and sadly unsurprised to find that Ilda still wasn’t back from whatever family emergency had called him away.

In an effort to keep their mind off that, Izuku turned to his girlfriends. “Sorry about leaving you with my mom after Todoroki-kun and I’s match.”

“Oh it actually wasn’t that bad,” Ochako said. “She just wanted to make sure we were ok with the whole arrangement.”

“Indeed,” Momo said. “She was surprisingly ok with it all, once we explained it. She did ask about how you’d asked to ‘hang out with some friends’ during the next two days, and we had to confirm that yes, you are going on dates with us during that time.”

Ochako turned red at that, and Izuku raised his brow. “Everything ok?”

“I’m fine, just, gaaah, what Recovery Girl talked about after that.”

Momo flinched back so hard she nearly let go of Izuku. “Ah yes. That.”

Izuku looked between his girlfriends in concerned confusion. “Can someone please explain?”

Momo cleared her throat. “Recovery Girl apparently had an idea as to what we might get up to.”

“Apparently she just, keeps a fishbowl of condoms on her desk,” Ochako said, red faced.

“Ah!” Izuku said, his voice several octaves higher than normal. “That’s not something you’re going to need to worry about! Shit ah, I’m…”

“We get it,” Ochako said, almost as redfaced as Izuku. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Chapter Text

“Izuku-kun hi! You’re—” Ochako paused to take in her boyfriend’s outfit. A pair of jeans identical to any other picked up off the rack, a simple gray hoodie only notable in how un-notable it was, the hood pulled up to cover his hair, and an All Might themed face mask covering everything from the nose down. It was a cooler day for late April, so it wasn’t out of the ordinary, but that was just it. “You’re looking, inconspicuous.”

“Yeah,” Izuku explained, “After the speech I gave during my match with Todoroki-kun, my face was all over the internet, and now everyone wants to give their 2 yen about it when they see me. Last night my mom and I went to a restaurant in the lower levels of Might Tower, and during that whole trip I was stopped a half dozen times by people looking for more details, wanting to give condolences, or taking issue with what I said about All Might, Endeavor. One old man even gave me a lecture for saying Ryukyu was stronger than most of the top 10. After that, All Might suggested this,” he gestured to himself, “to try and keep a low profile. It’s worked so far at least.”

“Oh man, one sports fest and you’re already that famous?” Ochako said. “I can’t imagine how much worse it’ll be once we graduate and become heroes.”

“There is a reason all our teachers call the press vultures,” Izuku said with an amused shrug. “Anyway, the theater’s a few minutes walk from here, and the movie is starting soon, we better get going.”

“Yeah sure,” Ochako said, “I just need to lock the door real quick though.”

“Of course.”

Be it thanks to Izuku’s disguise, the ongoing 2nd years UA sports festival, or simply the fact it was 10am on a Tuesday, the pair were able to arrive at the movie theater unimpeded, and after getting their popcorn soon found themselves shuffling down the aisle to arrive at their seats as the last of the previews ended.

“Made it just in time,” Izuku whispered with a smile as he removed his hood and mask.

Ochako just smiled back as the movie started.

The movie itself was nothing to write home about. The male lead was hit with an amnesia quirk, causing him to forget having ever met the woman he’d recently agreed to a date with, causing misunderstandings, miscommunications, and romantic hijinks galore. Izuku was having a good enough time, made all the better when Ochako wrapped her hand around his. He gently began running his thumb along the back of hers, and nearly jumped when he felt her head rest against his shoulder. He couldn’t stop the smile that came to his face as he returned the gesture, resting his head against hers.

That was the position they remained in as the credits rolled and the lights came back on.

“Looks like it’s over,” Izuku said without moving.

“Yep,” Ochako said, also without moving. “Odds of them having an after credits scene?”

“The director had a viral post on social media a few years back explaining why he has problems artistically, philosophically, and even morally with them,” Izuku explained, still unwilling to move.

“Damn it,” Ochako swore, unwilling to move.

The pair eventually did separate, albeit only after the credits had rolled, and even then their hands found each other again as soon as Izuku had reassembled his disguise. Hand in hand they made their way out of the theater and were about to make their ways home when Izuku spoke up.

“Ochako, you said you needed to go grocery shopping after this, right?”

“Uh-huh, why? Is there something you need?”

“No, but I could come with you if you’d like.”

Ochako deliberated the point for a moment before coming to her decision. “Ok, but I’m paying for it.”

“Of course,” Izuku said before chuckling. “Honestly given how hard it was to convince you to let me pay for the movie I hadn’t thought I would.”

If Izuku had thought that going shopping with her would be romantic, he severely underestimated Ochako’s coupon game and how dedicated she was to getting a good deal. 

Rather than simple discussions while walking around the grocery store, Ochako was a general waging war on capitalism, face nearly as stern as it had been before the sports festival as she prowled the aisles, comparing the yen/gram weight ratio of everything, consulting a notebook thicker than her phone filled to the brim with nothing but coupons for every foodstuff imaginable, and examining every best by date with a calculator and calendar.

By the time they left the store, Izuku carrying the bag and utterly flabbergasted, she’d gotten what would normally be 7500 yen of groceries for just under 800.

“So it’s past noon now,” Ochako said idly as she walked back to her apartment as if nothing happened, “so we should probably get some lunch. How about, hmm, something cheap. Mochi actually sounds good.”

This got Izuku to stir from his stupor. “There’s a sandwich shop near here that does delivery. I still have their website saved on my phone. I can get us some actual food if you want, but I’d pay.”

Ochako pouted for a moment as she got to the door to her apartment. Any complaints she may have had were quickly squashed however when her key spun with no resistance as she went to unlock it.

“It was already unlocked?” she said quietly, clearly disturbed.

Izuku put his free hand on her shoulder. “I’m more durable than you even without actively using my quirk. Want me to take point?”

With a silent nod, Ochako let Izuku in front.

‘Remember what I told you about Blackwhip,’ Daigoro said. ‘Focus your anger on the target before sending it out, and always aim for bodyshots. It could already snap necks when I had it, when One for All was half as old as it is now.’

‘You sure I’m not going to get in trouble for this?’

‘You’re allowed to use your quirk in your home, or with the homeowner’s/renter’s permission,’ Nana said. ‘I really doubt your girlfriend would say no to you doing this.’

Nodding and letting out a steadying breath, Izuku quietly opened the door and made his way in, Ochako following behind. Scanning his surroundings, Izuku was silent as he made his way forward, instantly noticing when a door at the end of the hall began to slide open.

The door was suddenly flung open to reveal two intruders, a man and a woman. They charged forward, yelling “Ocha—” before a pair of Blackwhip tendrils surged forth and encased them from the neck down.

“Wha?” Ochako said, seeing the pair. “Ma?! Pa?! Wha’re you doin’ here?”

“We came ‘ere ta see ya,” Mrs. Uraraka grunted through her binds. “Di’n’t know you ‘ere havin’ company.”

“Oh shit!” Izuku swore, withdrawing the tentacles. “I am so sorry I thought you were burglars!”

“It’s alright,” Mr. Uraraka said. “Now, I would ask yay yer name, but I’m pretty sure I already know it. Yer Midoriya Izuku, right?”

“Yes sir Uraraka-san,” Izuku said whilst bowing.

“Which means yer Oachako’s boyfriend. And yer in her apartment. Where ya weren’t ‘specting company. Ya know what that looks like ta me?”

“PA!” Ochako yelled. “It’s not like that ‘at all! We ‘re just on a date, ‘n went shoppin’ after!”

‘Wait she has an accent?’ Izuku thought. ‘I like it.’ The vestiges snirked at that, though not saying anything.

“Oh my, are we interrupting?” Mrs. Uraraka said.

“It was about to end,” Izuku said. “I was just trying to convince her to let me buy her a sandwich from a local shop instead of having mochi for lunch.”

The glare Ochako received from her mother visibly sent a chill ran down her spine, and nearly had Izuku chuckling.

“Thank you fer that,” Mrs. Uraraka said pointedly. “I swear this girl ‘d have mochi fer every meal if ya let ‘er.”

“I’m the same way with katsudon,” Izuku said, pulling out his phone. “Would the two of you like one as well?”

“That’d be lovely,” Mrs. Uraraka said, though her husband’s face said he had other thoughts on the matter.

Once they were done taking their orders, Mrs. Uraraka remembered something. “Oh Ochako, ya said ya ‘re shoppin’, right? Lemme help ya put it away.”

“I got it ma, it’s not much,” Ochako protested, taking the bag from Izuku.

“I insist,” her mother said. “’Sides, yer Pa was wantin’ ta say somethin’ ta Midoriya-kun.”

Izuku froze, eyes wide, jaw clenched, limbs locked, somehow more afraid than he’d ever been since he first stood before the corpse-like forms of the vestiges.

Ochako put up a bit of protest, but at her mother’s insistence and her father’s look she agreed, simply saying “I told ya, he’s not as bad as ya think he is.”

“We trust ya,” Mr. Uraraka said, clearly sounding like he didn’t trust her, “I just wanna talk ta him.”

As the women went off to the kitchen, Mr. Uraraka pointed over to the couch. “Now, why don’t you ‘n I take a seat ova there.”

“Yes sir!” Izuku said robotically.

“So, why don’t cha tell me ‘bout yerself. Ya close with yer folks?”

Izuku let out a stilted breath. “Well my father walked out on my mom and I a decade ago, hasn’t been back since, and the next time he and I meet I’ll be trying to send him to jail, so I can’t say I’m close with him. My mom and I are though.”

“She know ‘bout yer girlfriends?”

“She knew they both confessed the same day it happened, and was one of the first people we told about it.”

‘Technically correct, the best kind of correct,’ Yoichi said, probably quoting some manga from around the dawn of quirks.

‘That one you are not having him look up,’ Nana said.

“Hmm. And how’d she take it?”

“Once she made sure I wasn’t cheating on them, which I’m not—”

“Ya don’t need ta keep pointin’ out ya ain’t cheatin’, Ochako said as much when she told us ‘bout ya.”

“Thank you for letting me know, but once she knew, she didn’t have a problem with it. She was more upset that I’d waited a few days to do it.”

“Fair ‘nuff. But how ‘bout tha rest a ya family?”

“Both sets of my grandparents were dead before I was born, same with my mom’s brother, and if my father had his way I’d’ve never met his brother. I did end up meeting my uncle, though not until February.”

“Very eventful month for you, it seems.”

“Very eventful 24 hours; I met my uncle 3 hours before the entrance exam, and found out he was my uncle and my father a villain early the morning after. But with that in mind, I feel we’re close.” ‘Physically at least we couldn’t be closer if we tried.’ “He’s actually the person who introduced me to the idea of polyamory. Well, him and his two husbands. I will admit to being closer to my bio-uncle; the other two have, a certain abrasiveness to them.”

‘I didn’t even recommend Attack on Titan!’ Kudo said. ‘Just cause you didn’t like it doesn’t mean you get to hate me for it!’

“Abrasive how?”

“Firstly, I don’t think they’ve ever called me by my name, instead opting to use a nickname I’ve explicitly and repeatedly told them to stop using since I didn’t like it. Additionally, they openly and vocally despise my favorite hero All Might, saying that he’s a naive idealist who should have realized that the world is a cruel and unjust place years ago and therefore should have stopped trying to improve it and instead started killing any villain he comes across, using pure brute force to solve any and all societal issues, and refused any interviews or galas that resulted in increasing his fame, instead telling those in charge of such events to, and please pardon my Korean as I quote them directly, ‘fuck off and leave him to do his fucking job.’”

‘And I stand by it,’ Bruce said.

Mr. Uraraka sat there stunned for a moment. “Wow those two sound like assholes.”

“On that we agree,” Izuku said with a nod, much to the consternation of his uncles. “Fortunately the topics rarely come up, as they’re otherwise pretty ok. But, um, if I may, and please feel free to not answer, but may I please ask why the focus on my family?”

“I find that an easy way ta get ta know a person is ta know their family ‘nd how they feel ‘bout ‘em. In yer case, I don’t know shit ‘bout yer ma, so I can’t say I know ya all that well, but ya don’t seem that bad. That said, I wanna warn ya.” Mr. Uraraka placed his hand on Izuku’s shoulder, his thumb nestling into the crook between Izuku’s shoulder and collarbone before his grip tightened. Instantly, Izuku was overcome first with a feeling of weightlessness, then pain that, despite not even being nearly the most painful thing he’d felt, he couldn’t stop himself from wincing and recoiling away from Mr. Uraraka’s hand. “If you ever, and I mean ever, hurt her, I have a shotgun and a cement mixer. They’ll never find the body.”

‘That’d be a lot more threatening if you weren’t bulletproof,’ Hikage noted.

Mr. Uraraka let go, and suddenly Izuku felt his weight return, followed by his back bouncing off the couch as he landed roughly on the floor, but to his tailbone’s displeasure.

“Ack, what the fuck was that?” Izuku said as he regained his bearings.

“My quirk makes anything I’m touchin’ immune ta gravity,’ Mr. Uraraka said simply as he stood. “’Nd there’s a pressure point in tha should that if ya press on it right it don’t matta how high the poor fuck’s pain tolerance is, he’s recoiling in pain so hard he’ll curl int’ a ball. Take away their gravity and they’ll be floatin’ in tha air.” He pointed toward the kitchen where Ochako and her mother were coming out to check on the commotion. “No doubt ya’ve seen wha happen when somethin’ wit no gravity gets it back all of a sudden.”

“That’s so cool!” Izuku said, suddenly on his feet and pulling out a pen and notebook, speaking as he wrote. “That quirk could be so useful for hero works orconstructionSureitsstrictlyworsethanwhatOchakoscandobutitsstillreallygoodYoucoulduseittoliftheavyobjectsoutofthewaytogettopeopleunderneathorwiththatpressurepointyoujustdemonstratedyoucouldhavesuchacoolsupermove—!”

As Izuku continued his mumbling, the elder Urarakas silently turned to their daughter.

“I have no idea where he got the notebook from, but he just mumbles like this sometimes. Yaoyorozu-chan is the only person he’s ever met able to keep up with him, but it’s usually about quirks or plans involving them.”

They said nothing, merely nodding in understanding.

Chapter Text

“I feel like this is going to be a common occurrence in our relationship,” Izuku said as he and Momo walked hand in hand down a stone pathway dusted in cherry blossom petals fallen from the trees surrounding them, “but I don’t know if I should be afraid of or impressed by what you can do with your money.”

“Weren’t you just complaining when we got here that you were getting harassed by the public after what happened at the sports festival?” Momo asked, a slight smile on her face that Izuku instantly noticed didn’t reach her eyes.

“Shit, sorry, no, just,” he gestured around to the flower garden they were walking through, completely devoid of people save the two of them. “I’m not complaining, I just didn’t expect you to reserve an entire private park just for us after a single comment I made on the way over.”

“I’d actually already done that when I’d first made the reservations,” Momo explained. “You only recently gained any notable amount of fame, but the largest entertainment company in the country has had my family name since before my father was even born.”

“Ah crap, sorry,” Izuku said, wincing and almost letting go of Momo’s hand before she squeezed it.

“It’s fine, just make sure to not let it go to your head. No one likes a bruyant riche.”

“A what now?”

“Oh right, sorry. Bruyant riche is French of ‘loud money,’ and it’s a phrase the wealthy have taken to using to refer to those who are obnoxious in showing of their status, usually with expensive cars, luxury vacations every other week, multiple massive yachts they never use, or,” Momo let out a small chuckle as she remembered something, “one year a girl in my middle school who’d recently came to my middle school was bragging about having recently gotten solid gold toilets in her summer home in California. And her quirk made her blood as hot as lava. She never mentioned them again once we came back to school in September.”

“HerbloodwaslavaAsinactualmoltenrockorjustthetemperatureOrthepropertiesofitKachanssweatisverysimilartonitroglycerinebutitsnotactuallythatitssomefluidthedoctorapparentlyhadntrecognizedwithamixofthepropertiesofnitroglycerineandsweatandthegirlsbloodwouldprobablyhavetobesomethingsimilarjusttolethertransferoxygenandcarbondioxidearoundherbodysincemoltenrockisntverygoodatthatItsprobablyjustherbloodplasmanowthatIthinkaboutitbecauseifIrecallcorrectlytheplasmaisaliquidsimilartococonutwaterthatletstheredbloodcellsfloataroundsoifherbloodcellsweresomehowabletowithstandtheheatthatdprobablybethebestwayforittoworkout.”

“You say ‘somehow able to withstand the heat’ as if your own body isn’t able to somehow withstand a giant robot falling on you,” Momo said, interrupting Izuku’s muttering with a smile.

“Can’t you make just about anything from anywhere on your body?” Izuku asked. “Quirks follow the laws of physics as we currently understand them only when it’s convenient, and no one knows why even a hundred years later. I’m not complaining, I’m just saying. Whole doctorates have been written about quirks, and there’s always a point where they have to just accept that something works the way it does and they can’t explain it.”

‘I mean,’ Bruce said, ‘I have a hunch on how they work, but I didn’t get it ‘till after I died, and if anyone tried to follow it they’d both lack the tools to do it and get laughed out of academia for trying it.’

‘What hunch is this?’ Izuku asked as he and Momo continued their walk, only for a wave of dread to pour off the rest of his predecessors.

‘Ah fuck don’t get him started,’ Daigoro said. ‘We’ve had actual fucking arguments about it.’

‘I’m blocking them both out,’ Nana said, ‘someone let me know when they’re done so I don’t start throwing punches.’

‘I’m sorry what?’ Izuku asked at the same time Hikage agreed.

‘She really doesn’t like my theory,’ Bruce explained. ‘Understandably so, so I’m not going to try and convince her, but every time I bring it up she tries to deck me in the face.’

‘You say that like the rest of us like it like it either!’ Daigoro barked.

‘Doc you have to admit it can be a little unsettling for people in our position,’ Yoichi said, trying to defuse the situation.

‘This is literally the first time I’ve talked about it in like 5 years!’ Bruce said.

Feeling the other vestiges were about to start an argument about that last point even as he was fighting the urge to rube his temples, Izuku cut through the discussion. ‘I get it, it’s a controversial theory, what even is it?’

‘So we’re dead, but we’re still here. We don’t know how, or even what we are; we could be our actual souls from when we were alive, or we’re just copies of the original’s psyches. My theory on how quirks work relies on the former being the case, in that there’s something different about the soul of a person with a quirk versus someone without one, and whatever that difference is lets the user’s still living body at least partially follow the rules of the spirit world-slash-underworld-slash-afterlife-slash-whatever you wanna call it. Naturally, no living scientist would be able to test it, and if they even mentioned the theory they’d be laughed out of the room of believing in pseudoscience.’

Izuku took a deep breath at that, barely keeping himself from responding out loud. ‘Wow. That is, certainly a theory, that I don’t like, and would like you to please not mention again for another 5 years, or until you get a scrap of evidence.’

“Izuku-kun?” Momo said as Izuku hurriedly shoved the vestiges in a box. “Is everything alright? You seem upset.”

“What, oh sorry, it’s fine.”

The look on Momo’s face made it clear she didn’t believe him. “Izuku-kun…”

“Just, remembering something involving my father. The less said the less legal trouble we could both get in.”

“He really comes up a lot, doesn’t he?”

“Unfortunately,” Izuku said with disgust.

“But what do you think of the new features of your quirk? The tentacles and smokescreen. I know you’ve only had them for a few days, but have you done any training with them?”

“Smokescreen isn’t that hard to get a handle on,” Izuku explained. “Just a little experimenting the night before my date with Ochako-chan and I was able to get it to come out of wherever I want.”

“Seems quite simple, are you sure?”

“I mean,” Izuku said with a shrug, “I should be able to find creative ways to use it, but by itself it’s a very simple effect. I’m glad the issue was more figuring out that I could do it, not what it did or how to do it. Honestly, after what my strength does to me, I’m just glad I make regular smoke and not mustard gas or something.” To belabor the point, Izuku exhaled a puff of smoke.

“You would be fortunate enough to have that happen to you.”

“As seen with the tentacles. Firstly, teenage boy with tentacles. Sex jokes galore.”

Momo ran her hand down her face. “Of course there are. Honestly I just lean into them.”

“Is that why your first costume looks like that?”

“And the new one they’re still working on with the biofiber. The only changes to the design is the reference book and its shelf are being replaced with a visor.”

Izuku was very glad the vestiges were still locked in their box. “I am too your boyfriend to comment on that.”

Momo laughed at that. “You can feel free to make whatever comment you’d like.”

Izuku’s lips disappeared behind his teeth for a moment as he looked at her. “Anyway, so I’m making it a supermove and calling it Blackwhip to try and at least cut back on the jokes.”

Momo leveled Izuku with an unimpressed look. “Izuku-kun. Our art teacher comes to school every day dressed as a dominatrix, complete with a whip with a black handle and dark red, whatever you call the whip part of a whip.”

Izuku couldn’t keep from laughing at that. “You know how to make an electric scooter, but you don’t know what that’s called!?”

“I’m good at engineering and chemistry!” Momo defended, flustered. “Whip anatomy is neither of those! I’ve never even held a whip before! Do you know what it’s called!?”

“G-gimmie a sec,” Izuku said, “I need my right hand.” He pulled out his phone and searched it up. Before once again bursting into laughter. “Holy fuck this is so her!”

“What?” Instead of responding Izuku just turned the phone so Momo could see. She took a moment to look at it, before turning away, closing her eyes, and taking a deep breath. “It’s called a thong. The body of a whip is called a thong.” She took another deep breath and massaged that bridge of her nose. “Of course it is. There is no way she doesn’t know that and is enjoying it.”

“Oh absolutely,” Izuku said, finally recovering enough to put his phone away.

“But that doesn’t stop the fact that calling your summoning your tentacles Blackwhip isn’t going to stop the sex jokes.”

“It’ll at least mean they make less of them, hopefully. But the thing is that it’s seemingly tied to my emotions, particularly anger. During my match with Todoroki I was going over our daddy issues, against Kacchan he was clearly holding back and that pissed me off, and the only other time I’ve been able to use it I thought someone had broken into Ochako-chan’s apartment right at the end of our date, and when she was being stubborn about wanting mochi for lunch,” Momo stifled a snort at that, “and that’s how I ended up pinning her parents to the wall.”

“Ah yes, that meeting. Both Ochako and I are still baffled by how that went down.”

“That makes three of us. Anyway I just need to figure out how to be mad on command and Blackwhip should be  the most versatile ability I have yet!”

‘And even once I get the rest, I really only expect Gearshift to rival its versatility,’ Izuku thought as he tested letting the ghosts out.

‘What’d we just walk in on?’ Kudo asked.

‘Talking about the new abilities that totally aren’t quirks I developed during the sport festival. You guys done yelling at uncle Bruce?’

‘For now,’ Nana said, clearly still upset.

‘I think so,’ Bruce said, half a word after Nana started.

‘You two can’t hear each other, can you?’

‘Nope.’

‘She blocked me out.’

Izuku mentally rolled his eyes as he recalled the conversation the ghosts had missed, before stopping suddenly. “Oh, but Momo-chan I just remembered, you said during the assessment test we took the first day that you couldn’t make batteries yet. Mind if I ask what’s up with that?”

“Battery acid is a liquid, and I have yet to find a way to make it so that it doesn’t burn my skin.”

“But you made lithium buckshot during the sports festival?”

“I made it smothered in oil, so it wouldn’t explode on my skin, but would have it dry off once fired.”

‘Is she trying to make one of those new batteries?’ Hikage asked. ‘Well, not new cause they were invented when I was alive, but—’

‘Yes it sounds like she’s trying to make a flow battery,’ Daigoro interrupted. ‘Listen, Izuku, back when I was your age the most common battery type I’m pretty sure were called lithium ion, and the heavy duty ones available to the public didn’t have any liquid in them. They had a lower capacity, but should be more than fine for whatever she needs.’

Quickly coming up with a cover, Izuku made a noise of questioning before pulling out his phone. “What’s the freezing point of battery acid?” Izuku asked as he typed.

“I’m, not sure, why?”

“Because I was just thinking that having liquid batteries probably wouldn’t go over well in really cold environments like the poles or outer space, so tech going there might need solid acid batteries. ActuallynowthatIthinkaboutitgettingabullettothebatterypackprobablywouldntendwelleitherpossiblydousingthesoldierinliquidacidsothemilitarymighthaveonesaswell.” Izuku was brough out of his mumbling by finding something. “Ah! Looks like there’s something called a ‘dry cell’ that doesn’t have liquid inside, instead mixing the ‘electrolyte,’ which wasn’t that a nutrient?”

“Different electrolytes, I’m pretty sure. In the case of batteries it means a small selection of elements such as lithium or zinc that get mixed in a solution to make battery acid.”

“Thank you, but they mix the electrolyte with some kind of paste to make a battery that won’t hold it’s charge as long as a regular battery, but is much more durable. Looks like they’re still actually used for heavy duty stuff! TheirWikipediapagewhichIknowisntreputableresearchbutitsfineenoughforsurfacelevelstufflikewhatweredoingnowsaysthefirstonesweremadebymixinglithiumwhichyoucanalreadymakeintoplasterofpariswhichIdontknowifyoucanandeitherwayyoucanprobablyfindabetterpastebylookingintothembackhome…”

“I actually can make plaster of paris,” Momo explained before holding out her hand. 

Her palm glowed for a moment as a small lightbulb grew out of it, already attached to a small metal cylinder Izuku assumed was her first attempt at a dry cell battery by a pair of simple copper wires. The light the bulb was giving off was faint, barely enough to be noticed even when Momo held her hand over it to block out the sun, but it was glowing, and that was enough for a proof of concept.

A proof of concept that Izuku would have congratulated her on, if Momo hadn’t decided to celebrate in a way that involved her tongue entering his mouth, much to his enjoyment and the vestiges’ frustration.

Very little was said from that point as they continued their walk around the park, their mouths busy with other things. When they eventually did part back at the park entrance, it was with wide smiles and a quiet “I love you” from both of them.

Chapter Text

Izuku was smiling as he walked down the hall toward his classroom, his tie not looking like a jumbled mess for the first time since he started attending UA, Momo following behind him wearing less lip gloss than she had on when she got to school.

As the pair made their way to their desks, Hagakure spoke perhaps a bit too loud, saying “I had all these people talking to me on the way here! So many stares, it was honestly a little embarrassing!”

“Me too!” Tetsutetsu called.

“I had numerous grade schoolers telling me I made a good effort,” Aoyama said with a sparkle covered smile that did little to hide his discomfort.

“I feel you did quite admirably,” Ibara said.

“You managed to get to the final event at least,” Tsu agreed.

“You will recall Midoriya-san mentioned the boy from general education had a mind control quirk?” Aoyama said, his expression unchanged. “He used it to gather horses for the cavalry battle. I only made it thanks to falling for his trick.”

“Aoyama-kun can’t your laser break concrete?” Izuku said as he walked by. “If you had been in control you could’ve shot the ground out from under someone and made them trip. As long as you were careful about your targets the other horses would’ve kept the rider off the ground, but the whole unit would need to take a moment to reorganize, where your team could very easily have taken their headbands. Mind control or no, you deserved your spot. It is unfortunate that you had to go against someone with as much mobility as Ashido though, I wonder what her quirk does? She was able to slide around the arena with ease, throwing out that liquid. It’s probably some kind of acid, but what kind—”

The bell announcing the start of homeroom rang and Izuku was suddenly silent in his seat, a faint mint glow fading as Aizawa came in and gave a terse greeting. Behind him walked another student, one who hadn’t been a part of the hero course before now, who paused at the front of the class.

“Alright everyone,” Aizawa said plainly. “As you might’ve guessed, a gen ed student managing to make it to the final event of the sports fest was enough for us to offer him a spot in the hero course if one ever opened up, which in this case it did. This is Shinso Hitoshi, some of you have met him before now, some of you haven’t, but now he’s in your class. Shinso-kun, go take a seat in the open desk over here, and do it quick, there’s more we need to talk about.”

‘Being pretty curt with him,’ Daigoro said, amused for some reason.

‘No more than he is with the rest of us,’ Izuku pointed out.

‘He just doesn’t want to give it away the new kid is the asshole teacher’s kid,’ Kudo said with a smile.

Izuku had to fight to stop himself from visually reacting. And instead just yelling ‘WHAT!?’ at the ghosts.

‘Eraserhead and Present Mic are married, and Shinso-san is their adopted son,’ Nana explained. ‘They’re not allowed to grade his work for nepotism reasons, so Mic asked Toshi to do it for him.’

‘I, are they sure he’s adopted? He looks like a teenage Aizawa-sensei who dyed his hair!’

‘They apparently did a DNA test just to make sure the two weren’t related, and no, they’re not,’ En explained. ‘And before you ask, they adopted him when he was ten, and he goes by his old family name at school to avoid people realizing they’re related. And Aizawa and Yamada don’t publicly share a last name for the same reason. Legally they’re all Aizawas.’

Izuku was about to respond, but Aizawa beat him to it. “Alright, that settled, time for homeroom. No school wide announcements, but something’s going to happen in your heroics class today that you’ll want as long as possible to figure out. Today you’re coming up with your hero names.”

The class briefly erupted into chaos before Aizawa’s hair stood on end.

“But that won’t be until this afternoon,” he said. “In the meantime, I mentioned the other day how pro heroes would be sending in their internship requests. They came in over the weekend, and have been tallied. Please be aware that while you might be able to go to the same agency all three years, that happens less than you’d think, usually because the hero decides you’re no longer a good fit for their agency.”

“So if we’re picked now, that means there’ll be higher hurdles in the future!” Hagakure said.

“Yes, but you could decide they’re not a good fit for you either. How you come to that decision, I leave up to you, but what normally happens, and what I recommend you do, is go to heroes with similar quirks to yours early on to try and learn ways of using yours that you haven’t, then transfer to a hero who specializes in the type of hero work you want to work on later on in your third year or the back half of your second. Any questions so far?”

Shinso raised his hand, and Aizawa began answering his question before he even asked it. “Shinso-kun, you’ll be interning with me to catch up on the three weeks of training your classmates had that you missed, plus however much I deem necessary to ensure you’d be able to pass the entrance exam like they did. Anything else?”

“My question was actually going to be what would happen if someone didn’t get any internship requests,” Shinso said.

“For everyone but you, there’s several heroes who want an intern but didn’t ask for a specific student. They’ll be interning with them. If you do have offers you can still intern with them, but those without take precedent. And there will be those without, especially among first years. It’s practically unheard of for a first year to have more than a few hundred pros interested in them, and it’s not uncommon for over half the first years to have none at all. Any other questions?”

There weren’t, so Aizawa pulled up a bar graph of the internship requests. “There’s typically more of a spread,” he explained, “but as you can guess, your year is an anomaly.”

TODOROKI: 5234
MIDORIYA: 3592
TOKOYAMI: 360
IBARA: 113
YAOYOROZU: 108
ILDA: 53
URARAKA: 21

“Those two are in a whole other league!” Kaminari called out with a groan.

“These pros have no eyes for talent,” Aoyama agreed with a huff.

“Didn’t they get the 1st and 3rd place backwards?” Tetsutetsu asked.

“It’s most likely our father’s influence,” Todoroki said. “Mine is the number 2 hero, and some poor fools likely think that due to the scandal they have a shot at getting me to work with them, where Midoriya-kun’s is a villain who none would want to associate with.”

“Yeah nepotism,” Izuku deadpanned with a frown.

“A full list of all the pros who requested you were sent to your school emails,” Aizawa said. “It includes their quirks, where they operate, and what kind of heroics they specialize in. You’ll need to pick your top 3 in case something happens, so look into all of them. Now if you excuse me,” Aizawa pulled his sleeping back out from under the podium, “I’m going to take a nap.”

——————————

“Excuse me,” Todoroki said, standing by Izuku’s lunch table, “but since my table recently lost several people and those left are acting weird about all that’s happened recently, do you mind if I sit here?”

“Of course!” Izuku said with a smile.

“And um,” Hagakure said, tilting her tray as she did to make sure she was seen, “does that extend to me?”

“It’s not like this table’s not already got more people than it normally does,” Jiro said, pointing to Kaminari and herself.

“It’s pretty full normally, kero,” Tsu said. “But we do have the whole table to ourselves, there’s plenty of space.”

“You are more than welcome to join us Todoroki-kun, and you as well Hagakure-chan!” Ilda said with a chop. “But it is good that we are able to resume having lunch together!”

“Seriously,” Jiro said in agreement.

“I mean,” Kaminari said, “the table we were at could’ve fit the love birds.”

“Yeah but that one third year damn near had an anxiety attack when Ilda-kun showed up,” Jiro countered. “He would not have survived just, everything that’s going to go down with these three, plus Todoroki-kun.”

Kaminari winced for a moment before nodding. “Yeah, probably. But anyway, have you looked through your offers?”

“We have been in class until now!” Ilda said with a chop. “As we are not allowed to have our phones out in class and have not had a lesson involving laptops, I would expect us to not have!”

“They actually sent us the list during homeroom,” Todoroki said, pulling out his phone. “I started checking out the bargain bin list while Aizawa-sensei was napping. Didn’t you?”

“Ah! My apologies, I was, my mind was elsewhere at that time.”

‘Red flag,’ Bruce pointed out.

“Oh um, Ilda-kun,” Izuku said.

“You needn’t worry about me,” Ilda said with a small smile. “I apologize if news of my brother has caused you any undue concern.”

‘Redder flag,’ Kudo said.

“Did something happen to your brother?” Ochako asked, concerned while Jiro and Momo looked confused.

“The day of our sports fest, Stain attacked his brother, Ingenium,” Izuku explained, trying to be polite about his phrasing while paying close attention to Ilda’s reaction. His jaw clenched tightly for a moment as the girls expressed their concern, before waving his hand.

“It’s alright,” Ilda said, his tone and smile exactly like it had been when he tried to placate Izuku. “I can assure you, my family is doing just fine, all things considered. Right now, I would like to focus on my internship, and recommend you doing the same. Midoriya-kun, you know quite a lot about heroes, perhaps you would be able to help?”

‘Reddest flag,’ Yoichi said.

“Sure!” Izuku said with a smile even as he pretended to be calm even as he listened to the ongoing conversation in his head. “Can I see your lists?”

‘I know they didn’t work in the same town, but did All Might hear about how the previous Ingenium and his wife died when I was in elementary school?’ Izuku asked as he took Momo’s phone.

‘No he did not!’ Nana said perhaps a bit too loud.

‘What the fuck so this kid has no family now?’ Kudo asked, horrified.

‘He might have more siblings,’ En said, ‘but I wouldn’t count on it.’

‘During the party after USJ, he offered to have it at his house,’ Daigoro said, mildly mortified. ‘He said that it was just him, his brother, and some staff to keep it in order. He doesn’t have any other family.’

‘Wait, he’s still a minor!’ Kudo said aghast. ‘He can’t live on his own! Who’s his guardian now!?’

Realizing that Kudo was about to have a panic attack over how the only living descendant of his daughter was sitting at the table with him, Izuku put his uncle in a box and examined the list of heroes interested in having his girlfriend intern with them. “Out of everyone on your list, Fat Gum istheonlyherowithaquirkthatreliesonhisfatstoressohestheobviouspickBeyondhimRyukyuworksinthesametownhasgoneonrecordsayingthetwoaregoodfriendsandhasalotofsidekickswithdifferentquirkssotheyllprobablybeabletohelpyououtCertainlydoesnthurtthatifsherequestedmeImputtingherfirstonmylistbutthatsbesidethepointAsforthirdImnotseeinganythatwouldactuallybegoodforyourquirksothatleavepeoplewhodbegoodforthekindofheroyouwanttobewhichyouwouldknowbetterthanIwould.”

“That sounds reasonable,” Momo said with a nod as she took her phone back, a slight blush on her face.

“You could understand that?” Jiro asked incredulously.

“You’ve met my brother,” was all the explanation Momo gave.

“But who else wants help?” Izuku asked. “Ilda, how about you?”

“Thank you for the offer,” Ilda said, looking up from his phone and plastering on his fake smile, “but I believe I’ve already made my selection.”

Jiro snuck a look over to Ilda’s phone before giving Momo a look that seemed to have an entire conversation behind it.

“Really?” Momo asked. “Might I ask who they are?”

“In no particular order, Manual, Native, and Takeshita!”

‘All of which are based out of Hosu, none of which have anything resembling a mobility quirk, hell Takeshita has a whole supermove about making it hard to move!’ Izuku thought, fighting the urge to bite his lip.

‘We’ve somehow stumbled across a flag redder than I thought possible,’ Hikage said. ‘Text Eighth, let him know not to let him go to Hosu. My predecessors and I have seen people act like him after losing someone before, and 9 times out of 10 they went after the killer. You kids are not able to deal with Stain, and we don’t trust him to realize that.’

‘Already on it,’ Izuku thought as he pulled out his phone. “Ochako-chan, I don’t know how to work a flip phone so if you want my help why don’t you forward me the email with your list and I can look it over?”

Izuku did pull up the email Ochako sent, but not before sending out a text.

Midoriya Izuku: Ilda-kun wants to go to Hosu 4 his internship. The first 4 all agree that’s a bad idea and think he might fight Stain. Don’t let him.

——————————

“Everyone got the forms?” Aizawa said as he finished passing them out. “Good. With that settled, it’s time for hero names. The one you pick now is only intended to be temporary, but you still want to pick something appropriate—”

“Or else there’s hell to pay!” yelled Midnight, breasting boobily into the room, “because the one you pick now may be what you’re stuck with! That’s happened to plenty of pros out there, Eraserhead here included!”

“That’s true enough,” Aizawa said, pulling out his sleeping bag. “But since I’m no good at deciding on names, I asked Nemuri-san to help you in my stead. If you don’t come up with one by the end of class, that’s fine, take your time.”

“That’s right!” Midnight said, taking a stack of whiteboards and dry erase markers from behind the podium and passing them out. “Now, take a few minutes to come up with one, we’ll begin presenting in a few minutes, alright?”

‘If you use any variation of Might or All in your name,’ Kudo warned, ‘you will be joining us in the bank vault permanently.’

‘I mean,’ Izuku thought awkwardly, ‘now that I’ve actually met the man, they wouldn’t even really fit.’

‘Now that you’ve met the man?’ Yoichi asked.

‘Why are you even surprised?’ En said. ‘We saw his room when he first got the quirk, of course all the names he came up with until now are going to be derivative of Eighth’s.’

‘Though I am kinda curious what you might’ve come up with,’ Nana asked amused.

‘All Might Jr, Captain All Might, Super All Might, Super Might, Mighty Boy, Mighty Man, All Man, and Mighty are just the ones I can remember off the top of my head.’

The elder most vestiges groaned, even as the younger ones laughed uproariously.

‘Yeah yeah it’s funny, but I need ideas!’

‘Well you can’t do what Kudo and I did,’ Yoichi mused. ‘Most vigilantes of our era went by their quirk names, hell that’s actually the reason quirks even have names to begin with.’

‘Yeah that’s out,’ Izuku agreed. ‘Would be poetic though, the son of the secret villain All for One being the famous hero One for All.’

‘You see why I called myself what I did,’ Yoichi agreed.

Intrigued by that train of thought, Izuku began trying to think of other poetic ways he could poke fun at his father, which as trains of thought are want to do got off the rails and wandered, arriving at poems themselves, and in particular his favorite line of his favorite poem.

‘We are not letting you name yourself Deku,’ Daigoro said. ‘And even if you did, the staff know about your nickname and would never allow it.’

Izuku and the vestiges continued workshopping a hero name even as his classmates began presenting their own. For the most part it seemed to be going well, no one having issues with their names, until it was Tetsutetsu’s turn.

“The Metal Hero: Real Steal!” Tetsutetsu said as he turned the board around.

“Someone’s already taken the epitaph ‘The Metal Hero,’” Midnight advised. “Other than that I don’t see a problem.”

“Um, Nemuri-sensei!” Izuku said, raising his hand.

“Midoriya-kun! Do you want to go next?”

“N-no, actually, just uh, the English words for ‘steal’ and ‘steel’ are homophones, so they sound the same but have different spelling. Tetsutetsu put the word for steal as his hero name. Replace the A with a second E and you’ll be fine.”

Aizawa poked his head out of his bag at that. “Show me the board,” he requested, before looking at it for a moment. “He’s right. Fix it and you’re good.”

Izuku felt a poke in the back and turned around to see Shinso holding his marker.

“You read English?” the new boy asked.

“A lot of All Might’s early interviews were done in English only,” Izuku explained. “Doesn’t hurt that my uncle on my dad’s side married an American.”

‘I gave up my American citizenship when I was a kid,’ Bruce commented.

‘Culturally no you didn’t,’ Yoichi said flirtatiously, making Izuku shut off all three of his uncles.

“Alright then,” Midnight said, “who wants to go next?”

“Me!” Hagakure said, bouncing up to the podium. “The Stealth Hero: Invisible Girl!”

“Are you sure you want to be called a girl for the rest of your professional career?” Midnight asked.

“I can just change it to Invisible Woman later,” Hagakure said with a shrug.

“The Invisible Woman was a key part of one of the first superhero teams to ever appear in comics, first debuting in the early 1960’s and not going out of print until the company that owned her was destroyed in the 2040’s,” Midnight explained, clearly trying to hold back her passion for the topic. “You will not be able to change your name to that.”

“Oh come on, those comics are super old, they gotta be in the public domain by now!”

“So is the bible, that doesn’t mean you can call yourself Jesus and expect to get away with it.”

Ibara quickly erased her board.

“Alright then,” Hagakure said in a huff. “Any suggestions?”

“Are you asking me specifically or the class as a whole?”

“Either or, I guess.”

Izuku raised his hand, and Midnight called on him.

“Does your quirk make you transparent or reflect the light around you?”

“Reflect the light. If I was just transparent, you’d be able to see anything I’ve eaten as I’m digesting it, but since I’m just reflecting light,” her tie lifted up until it was about where her mouth should be, when the tip disappeared as if something had taken a bite out of it for a moment, before the tip reappeared and the whole tie fell back in place.

“That’s actually a neat trick,” Izuku thought aloud. “But uh, how about something that plays into light? Like Prism?”

“But then people will start thinking I have light powers and not,” the tip of her marker gestured at where her head should be.

“You could be Phantom or something else ghosty!” Dark Shadow said, manifesting next to Tokoyami’s desk.

“I’m not spooky enough for that.”

Daigoro snorted. ‘Hey Izuku, I have an idea for what your hero name could be.’

‘Just because I’m possessed doesn’t mean I’m a chunibyo.’

“Hey wait,” Kaminari said. “There’s this pokemon from one of the earlier generations, I forget which one but I think it was Kalos? It’s called kirlia, which sounds like kuria, and it looks like this,” he held up his phone to reveal a pokemon resembling a green haired young girl with stark white skin. “So now I’m thinking of how to combine ‘clear’ and ‘kirlia.’”

“Kurlia sounds good to me, what about you Nemuri-sensei?”

“I think it’ll work great! Very you. Now, who wants to go next?”

Uraraka was the next to present her name, a choice both she and Izuku would soon come to regret.

“This is what I came up with,” Ochako said, turning around her board to read Uravity.

“I like it, nice word play!” Midnight said. “Any comments from the class?”

“I have one,” Ibara said, tentatively raising her hand. “My apologies if this is inappropriate, but, well, ‘Uravity’ is clearly a pun with your name Uraraka. Which is your family name. Which, at least for women, has a tendency to change in the early parts of our adult life. Are you sure you want to use that name?”

Ochako and Izuku’s faces both turned bright red.

‘Izuku,’ Nana said reproachfully, ‘why are you blushing? You’re far too young to thinking what I think you were thinking.’

‘I’m blushing cause she’s my girlfriend and she just got asked about marriage, what more reason do I need!’

‘Nana don’t act like you were any better when people started making comments about Leafy,’ En chastised.

Finally, Ochako found her voice, barely managing to squeak out “I think it’s fine I’ll deal with that when I need to!” before sprinting to her desk so fast she nearly left a dust cloud in her wake.

Izuku very pointedly waited until he was the last to go, hoping against hope that if he focused on figuring out his hero name, he’d be able to calm down by the time it was his turn.

He was mostly successful at that, though he was fairly certain his face was still pinker than normal.

“So uh, my hero name is Makezyu,” Izuku said to the class.

“Unbeaten, but with a misspelling to include the character for nine,” Midnight mused. “Interesting. May I ask why?”

“The nine is a minor enough dig at my father that I’ll be able to explain when he’s either dead or on death’s row,” Izuku explained. “All I can say now is that it’s not just about him. It also helps distinguish me from just Unbeaten, which I went with because just, I’m a eugenics experiment who grew up quirkless and functionally fatherless. It’s a lot.” ‘It’s also the first word in my favorite poem, but that’s less impactful.’

“Alright,” Midnight said, “but if it ever gets too much know that you can talk to Hound Dog or anyone else on staff.”

“It’s fine,” Izuku said. “Any other issues with my name?”

“No, that’s everything I have to say on names, I turn it back to Aizawa-san,” Midnight said as she left the room.

“Alright, great.” Aizawa said, emerging from his nylon chrysalis. “The bell should ring soon, so I’ll keep this short. Ilda-kun, there’s something I’d like to speak with you about after class, don’t worry you’re not in trouble it’s just not something you’ll want your classmates to all hear."

'A million yen says it's because Eighth told the rest of the staff and they're not letting that happen,' Daigoro said.

'Yes, because ghost yen is so useful,' Izuku snarked.

"Everyone else," Aizawa continued, "I know most of you started looking over your offers this morning, and that some of you might’ve even decided on your placements, but I’m not accepting the forms until tomorrow morning. That is all,” as if on cue, the final bell rang, “now get out.”

Chapter Text

“Alright everyone,” Aizawa said, more bored sounding than usual, “You got your costumes, right?”

“I got it right here!” a pink skinned girl from 1-B all but yelled.

“Ashido you don’t need to be so loud,” Sekijiro said to his student. “And remember, don’t wear them outside unless the hero you’re mentoring under says you can. And remember to be on your best behavior, you’re representing UA, and heroes talk more than most people expect. If you make a bad impression during your first internship, you can expect every hero you ever work for going forward to have heard about it.”

With that, the classes began spreading out, the students saying goodbye to their friends, helping others find where their trains were located, and heading out.

As Izuku turned to leave, he noticed Ilda had merely turned and left, saying nothing, a scowl on his face, just as it had been the entire prior week.

“Hey, Ilda!” Izuku called out, conflicted as he saw the scowl on his friend’s face disappear in favor of a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “You never did say why Aizawa-sensei wanted to talk to you, and now you’re heading the opposite way from the trains to Hosu, where all the internships you wanted were, is everything alright?”

Ilda continued to plaster a fake smile on his face, but he visibly clenched his jaw as he took a deep breath. “The teachers had somehow learned exactly that,” Ilda said, barely holding back his fury, “and wrongly began to suspect that the reason I selected them was because I held a grudge against my brother’s killer, and wished to hunt him down myself. I attempted to persuade them that this wasn’t the case, but they insisted that it was! And as such, I was forbidden from interning with any hero in the city I spent my entire life in, until the death of my brother!” By this point Ilda was grimacing through his barely still present smile, his words barely squeezing past his half-gritted teeth. “But to answer your question, I am as ‘alright’ as I can be under these circumstances. Now, if you excuse me, the train to Naruhata will be departing soon, and if I am to be punctual, I should leave immediately. Have a nice week.”

With that, Ilda dropped his smile and left, clearly irate.

“Oh dear,” Momo said, concerned. “I fear he may have figured out we were the one to tell the teachers.”

“And by we you mean me,” Izuku said. “I’m not discounting you and Jiro-san’s efforts to get me the info, but I was the one who just now admitted to knowing where all the internships he wanted to go to were, and who he knows has easy access to a member of staff.” Izuku let out a sigh at that. “At least he’s not going after a serial killer.”

“Are you sure he was actually going to go after Stain?” Ochako asked as the trio headed toward their own train.

“I don’t mean to offend Ilda-kun,” Momo said, “but I trust the teachers, some of whom have been heroes and dealing with criminal suspects with every reason to lie for longer than we have been alive, to be able to tell if someone is lying than I believe he would be capable of lying, especially after his most recent showing.”

Izuku nodded in agreement as the three UA students walked onto their train, only to find a fourth already seated.

“Kacchan!?” Izuku asked incredulously. “Your internship is in Osaka?”

“For now it is,” Katsuki said, hands firmly in pockets. “I’m with Mirko this week, and she moves around a lot. She might decide to be in Hokkaido by Wednesday.”

“You’re interning with Mirko?” Izuku said, half confused half impressed. “She doesn’t have an agency, how’d she get permission to take one intern, let alone invite another three?”

“Another three?” Katsuki asked.

“She also made offers to Izuku-kun, Ochako-chan, and I,” Momo explained without a hint of the anger she felt apparent on her face. “We opted to not go with her, however, as her quirk is too dissimilar to our own, and we don’t know how good she is at training those with different quirks.”

Katsuki shrugged in response. “That’s not why I’m going to her.”

“It’s not?” Izuku asked. If Katsuki heard him, he didn’t respond, apparently deciding his shoes were more interesting than the conversation.

“Quite interesting,” Momo said. “Though I’ve heard that Mirko has a tendency to work out of the offices of other heroes when she’s in the area. Did she say where you were to meet her?”

“Ryukyu’s agency,” Katsuki said simply.

Ochako had to clench her jaw to keep herself from swearing in public.

“Oh! Ochako-chan and I are interning with her!”

Katsuki dropped his head as a small “Fuck,” slipping out under his breath.

‘Am I really agreeing with that brat?’ Kudo said, clearly irritated.

‘You’re not the only one,’ Nana agreed, feeling the same.

The train made its way through, the hero students stayed quiet. Only as they were nearing their destination did Katsuki finally break the silence. “Hey, Deku—”

“His name’s Midoriya!” Ochako snapped.

“Ochako, it’s fine,” Izuku said, gently placing his hand on her knee. “I told him he could call me that. We’ve known each other long enough that we both agree him calling me by name sounds weird.”

Ochako didn’t look happy about it, but she did accept it, letting Izuku turn back to his friend turned bully turned, whatever it was they were to each other. “But Kacchan, what were you saying?”

“I was just asking what your hero name was. Round Face and I both agree that I shouldn’t call you Deku anymore. Pretty sure the mutt was gonna tell me to start using it too, but I didn’t wanna wait.”

The trio of 1-A students sat up straighter in confusion at that.

“Uh, it's Makezyu. Do you, what’s your’s?”

“Ground Zero,” Katsuki said simply, his gaze lowered to his shoes rather than Izuku’s face, “but you can call me whatever you want.”

That was the last any of them said on that train ride. For three it was mild shock and merely enjoying one another’s company, and for the fourth it was shame and fear.

Eventually the train arrived at their stop and they made their way out. Soon after, they had to split, Momo splitting off to go to Fat Gum’s agency with a quiet “Love you” shared between her and Izuku.

As soon as Momo left, Izuku turned to Katsuki, expecting him to have walked off during the brief exchange. Instead, he stayed there, completely unphased by the exchange.

“Everything alright Kacchan?”

“Yeah, why?”

“You could’ve just walked out,” Ochako said, equally confused as Izuku. “Why not?”

Katsuki looked away and clenched his jaw, for what reason no one but him knew. “You got a problem with me walking with you? Wait, shit, you two are dating so you might actually, crap.”

“Hold on,” Ochako said, stepping toward him. “How do you know that?”

“Did Makezyu tell you what I told him during the finals of the sports fest?” Ochako made a face of surprise. “He didn’t, did he. It wasn’t much, just that if you hadn’t passed out exactly when you had I’d’ve yielded. I wanted to tell you as much after our match, but when I dropped by your prep room you were on the phone with your parents. I didn’t hear all of it, but I heard enough.”

“And you weren’t confused by me and Momo also being together?”

“Like I said, I heard enough. I won’t mention it again unless you do.”

Katsuki immediately turned on his heel and began speed walking away.

Izuku was stunned for a moment.

“I think that’s the closest he’s ever come to apologizing,” he said, somewhat shocked.

“What?” Ochako and several of the ghosts asked.

“Sorry, but yeah, even when we were kids he never apologized for anything.”

Ochako just stared, mouth agape, while Nana was utterly flabbergasted. ‘What on earth is wrong with his parents!?’

‘His first words were, in order, fuck, shirt, shit, bitch, and hag, all said in the span of two days,’ Izuku explained. ‘What do you think is wrong with them?’

The now pair walked the rest of the way to Ryukyu’s agency in peace, something Izuku hadn’t known in almost a week.

This peace naturally disappeared the second they arrived, as a giant blob of periwinkle came literally rocketing toward them, not even coming to a stop long enough for them to realize it was a person before barraging them with what Ochako could barely tell was speech, but Izuku understood to be questions.

“Yourethenew1styearinternsstayingwithRyukyurightMirkoscameinalittlebitagodidsomethinghappentoholdyouupOhheyyoureMidoriyakunrightTheonewhowonyouryearssportsfestThatsawesomeIactuallywonmyfirstsportsfestAnywaywhatwasupwithyourquirkYousaidyoudidntgetitforawhilesoeveryonethoughtyouwerequirklessWhatwasthatlikeWhatfinallyunlockedyourquirkWhatwaswithallthesmokeandtentaclesHowaretheyrelatedtoyoursuperstrengthAndyouarentyoutheonewho—”

“Nejirechan, pause,” Ryukyu said as she approached, causing the girl to come to a complete halt. “My apologies, Nejirechan can get rather excitable."

“It’s alright,” Ochako said. “That’s not the first time someone’s talked that fast around us.”

“Really!?” Nejirechan asked. “Who was it?”

“I think aloud at about that speed,” Izuku explained. “And to answer your questions, yes we’re the 1st years here to intern with Ryukyu, Kacchan, er, I guess I should start calling him Ground Zero, got here first because he walked faster and we had to say goodbye to our classmate who’s interning with Fat Gum, yes I am Midoriya Izuku, hero name Makekyu, and yes I won my sports festival despite not having manifested my quirk until the day of the entrance exam, I don’t know what manifested it, but I’m pretty sure it was because I lacked the muscles needed to use it without killing myself, the smoke and tentacles are additional ways to use my quirk, and as you might expect from only having had it for two full months, I really don’t know what it’s capable of, so I have no idea how they’re related to the super strength.”

The pro hero raised her brows in surprise as her intern was momentarily stunned. Ochako however turned to her boyfriend with a knowing look, to which he raised his hands in defense.

“Is something wrong?” Ryukyu asked.

“Nothing you need to worry about,” Izuku said. “Petty, high school soap opera stuff. It won’t impact our ability to do our jobs.”

“Are you two dating?” Nejireichan asked.

“The only answer I’m going to give is yes with an asterisk. I would really rather not explain it if that’s at all an option. May I ask where we can put our stuff? UA said we’d be staying here the full week and you’d have dorms for us to use during our stay.”

“I won’t ask you to explain,” Ryukyu said firmly, “but will make the decision on if it impacts your ability to work myself. If it doesn’t, that’s fine, if it does, one of you will be sent back to UA early. This is a business, and lives could be at stake. We do not have time for that. Nejirechan, you escort Uraraka, I’ll take Makekyu to the men’s dorms. Once you’re settled, get on your costumes and see me at the gym,” the heroine pointed to a door beside a glass wall, on the other side of which was a fairly simple gym, complete with sparing mats.

“Glad I started with the pants at least,” Katsuki said as Izuku came in. He’d already changed out of his UA uniform as was part of the way through putting on his costume, which caught Izuku’s attention.

“Kacchan, your costume, is it, is that the costume I designed when we were kids?”

‘You designed him a costume?’ Daigoro asked.

“Most of it, yeah,” Katsuki said, purposefully turning away. “Made a few modifications. The original sketch had me wearing bracers the size of my torso.”

“I was four, cut me some slack!” Izuku said with a smile as he threw his bag on an unclaimed bed.

“It wasn’t just that,” Katsuki said. “It also called for me to have small grenades to hold my sweat in, and the bracers were supposed to hold a bunch of it to set out a massive blast. I wasn’t allowed either, because of the probation.”

Izuku winced as he opened the case his costume was in. And then he froze. There was a note inside, right on top, positioned such that it could be read first thing upon opening the case. It had a phone number on it, above which read:

         Midoriya,

         I added the babies we talked about on the first day. I wanted to make more, but Maijima-sensei wouldn’t let me, said something about safety before forbidding me from field testing until none of my babies explode for a full month straight! But I really liked making babies with you that first day, and I wanna do it again. Call me when you get the chance.

- Hatsume Mei, but you can call me Mei

Izuku’s face turned bright red. ‘Please tell me this isn’t what I think it is!’ he shrieked mentally.

‘Certainly looks like it,’ En said.

‘I asked out one of my boyfriends the same way,’ Nana agreed. ‘No it wasn’t your grandfather.’

“Cool!” Izuku squeaked aloud. “Coolcoolcoolcool, FUCK!”

“Someone fuck with your costume?” Katsuki asked.

Without thinking, Izuku handed him the note. Katsuki read it over and instantly looked both baffled and concerned. “What the fuck D-Makekyu? You’ve got two girlfriends and some side chicks? Why the hell are you fucking a girl you don’t even have the number for yet?”

“It’s not like that!” Izuku squealed. “Hatsume-san calls her inventions her babies! I just talked to her about quirks! And support gear! That’s it! I haven’t even, Ochako-chan and I haven’t even kissed yet!”

Katsuki briefly looked conflicted at that, though neither boy understood why before he returned to looking angry and tossing the note back. “So tell her about it then! And Ponytail while you’re at it!”

Izuku scrambled to do exactly that.

Green for All: I opened my costume case to find this note
Confession?Note.png
Not sure if she knows I have a girlfriend or not
Almost certainly doesn’t know I have 2
Letting you decide what I do about it

Princess Peach: I see no problem with it, as it could simply be she wants to speak with you as a friend, though I do request you let her know about our relationship
And if she does want to join the polycule, the four of us should have a conversation in person about that.

Ochako didn’t reply, though when Izuku met her in the gym her expression could only be described as a scowl.