U.A.'s Golden Boy - asdf0789 - 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia (2024)

Chapter 1: Lovers of The World

Chapter Text

“Hello and welcome back to Behind the Mask. I’m your host, Meryl West.” A beautiful woman with dark skin and light hair spoke to the camera in front of her. “For those of you just tuning in, I’m here with our very special guest, Deku.”

“Um, h-hello.” The boy in question raised a hand in greeting.

The pair were seated directly across from one another in front of a live studio audience.

“We’ve certainly had quite a day here, looking over your recent exploits. You’ve certainly had an especially busy year, haven’t you?”

“Oh, I don’t know about that. I think everyone has been working hard this past year to pick up the pieces after… everything that happened. Japan may have been the epicenter of the Villain War, but the repercussions it had impacted us all. Traveling so much has taught me that much at least. We’ve all had to step up to become heroes in our own way.”

“Humble as ever, I see.” The woman smiled. “So, Deku, with your world tour coming to an end, are you looking forward to going home?”

Izuku Midoriya sat shaking in his seat. One would think after a year abroad doing countless interviews, the seventeen year old would be even somewhat acclimated to appearing on television, however they would be wrong. While he could meet the eyes of a villain wielding the power of a god and not blink, being asked about his interests and hobbies before an audience of millions had the boy sweating bullets.

“Of course!” Izuku nodded, before quickly shaking his head. “Err-well I mean… N-Not that I haven’t enjoyed my travels!” He quickly clarified. “India, Germany, Spain, The U.S., all the countries I’ve been to have been wonderful! A-And the people I’ve met have been so amazing and kind to me!”

A series of cheers and claps sounded from the audience in response, causing Izuku to let out a small sigh of relief.

“Well, seeing as we’re nearing the end of our segment today, why don’t we move on to our final question? I’m sure everyone is curious to hear the answer to this one.” The host paused for dramatic effect. “Who are you most looking forward to seeing when you go back to Japan? Anyone special waiting for you back home?”

“Oooooo.” The audience let out a collective sound of intrigue, leaning forward on the edge of their seats.

Izuku let out a choking noise as his drink went down the wrong pipe.

“I-I-I-well I mean-um…” Izuku gulped nervously as he finally regained control of his breathing. Looking around at the enamored crowd around him, it was clear that they were waiting for an answer. “Um, I… I guess I would say… My mom?”

A resounding groan sounded through the studio as millions were left in disappointment.

From his plane seat, Izuku cringed at the footage of him making a fool of himself on television. His mom!? Seriously!? How embarrassing! The clip had gone viral all over social media and the particular video he was watching of it already had more than five million hits. He was a meme now. The interview had only been yesterday!

Luckily for Izuku, the private jet that had been arranged for him didn’t have any other passengers to mock him.

“Don’t feel too bad Ninth.” A voice spoke from the boy’s mind. “All heroes stumble in interviews from time to time. Just try to focus on the positives, I’m sure everyone back home is looking forward to seeing you again.”

En, the sixth user of One for All, appeared as a ghostly purple visage at Izuku’s side. A moment later, a second, orange apparition formed on Izuku’s opposite side.

“Pfft yeah! Especially ‘Mommy!’” Daigoro Banjo, One for All’s fifth user, burst out into laughter.

Izuku groaned before slumping forward onto his tray table.

Having the voices of his predecessors in his head was a bit of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, he was never truly alone, always having someone in his corner to back him up and advise him. On the other hand, Banjo was one of them.

“Well, I think it’s rather sweet.” A feminine voice commented as two pink, ghostly arms wrapped around Izuku’s shoulders in a motherly embrace. Nana Shimura, the seventh wielder of One for All, was probably the most vocal of the voices in his head. “There isn’t a mother in the world who wouldn’t be delighted to hear that her son was thinking of her while he was away.”

While Izuku had more or less grown accustomed to the eight other entities occupying his headspace, it could still get a bit crowded at times. That and, while the other wielders insisted that they respected his privacy, they seemed able to come and go as they pleased within his consciousness, so he wasn’t entirely convinced they weren’t watching during his more… private moments.

“Thanks, Nana.” The boy mumbled to himself before looking wistfully out the window. “Ugh. Can’t this flight just be over already?” He whined. “I just want to get home and finally sleep in my own bed!”

Izuku was tired. While his trip across the globe had been full of interviews and media coverage, which were exhausting in their own right, the tour had been far from leisurely. Rooting out the remaining supporters of All for One hadn’t been an easy task, the nearly two hundred year old man had been nothing if not thorough in his planning.

Villains wielding multiple quirks, traitorous heroes, corrupt politicians, a thriving black market for Trigger, Quirk Deleters, even some of the remaining Nomu… It had been a busy year for the ninth wielder of One for All.

Hell, it had been an exhausting year, working nearly around the clock every day, moving between hotels on a weekly basis. Not being able to see his family and friends back at U.A. The whole experience had been harder than Izuku had expected it to be.

And while Izuku had been busy cleaning house on All for One’s operation, his classmates were back home in Japan, helping pick up the pieces leftover after the war with the Paranormal Liberation Front and completing their second year at U.A. Thankfully, by the grace of some higher power ( most likely Principal Nezu ), Izuku was being sent back home to finish his last year of high school.

Any sense of normalcy in his life would be more than welcome.

The Uraraka’s cramped studio apartment was as lively as ever as the family of three prepared themselves for the evening. Sachiko Uraraka finished buttoning her pink cardigan before adjusting her necklace and making sure her earrings were secure. It wasn’t often that the woman had an opportunity to wear her only set of jewelry, so she wanted to make sure that it looked nice. Moving to open the bathroom door, she rolled her eyes at finding it still locked.

“Ochako, honey, are you almost done in there? If we don’t leave soon we’ll miss the train.” The mother said to her daughter.

“In a minute, Mom!” The young brunette called back from the other side of the bathroom door, adjusting her mascara for the third time that day. “I’ll just be another minute!”

“You know, I’m sure that Midoriya will like you all the same, regardless of how your makeup looks.” Sachiko commented with a smirk.

“MOM!” Ochako called back, her reflection turning pink in the mirror as blood rushed to her cheeks.

“Alright, alright. One more minute.” Sachiko Uraraka relented, stepping away from the door. “I love you.”

“...”

“I said, I love you. ”

“... Love you too.” Her daughter replied, more quietly this time.

As the older woman turned around, she spotted her husband adjusting his shirt collar as he watched their TV sitting on the kitchen counter.

“She’s still in there?” Juro Uraraka asked incredulously, turning to look at his watch.

“It’s an important night for her!” Sachiko replied. “You remember how we were at that age, I was no different when it came to you.”

It was true, the Uraraka women were fierce like that, they might not have much but they were very territorial over what they saw as theirs.

“Well…” The man crossed his arms, averting his eyes. “Doesn’t mean I have to like it. You ask me, she’s a bit too invested in this boy.”

“She could certainly do worse.” The woman nodded toward their TV which was displaying more news feed about the boy in question. It seemed like ‘Deku’ was always in the public eye these days, his title of ‘All Might’s Successor’ seemed to ring true in that regard.

“He could save the world a hundred times and he still wouldn’t be worthy of our little girl.”

“Of course, but she’s a big girl now. Ochako can make her own decisions, and it’s our job as parents to support her when she needs it.” Sachiko placed a caring hand on her husband’s shoulder.

“Ugh.” Juro sighed as he took a seat next to the kitchen counter. “I’m just worried about her. What if she gets her heart broken?”

“Then the two of us will personally end that boy.”

“And become villains to the rest of the world?” Juro raised an eyebrow.

“The worst of the worst.” Sachiko nodded.

“I love you.”

“I know you do.”

The older couple leaned in for a kiss just in time for their daughter to step out of the bathroom and see them.

“Eww! Come on, you guys! Not in front of me!” Ochako whined as she quickly shielded her eyes.

“Katsumi! Quit slouching! Walk like a normal girl goddammit!” Mitsuki Bakugo yelled, slapping the back of her daughter’s head.

“Ow! Quit it ya damn hag! You’re ruining my hair!” The blonde girl yelled back at her mother, trying to fix her mane of spiky blonde hair pulled into a long ponytail.

“You did that yourself this morning!”

“Um, maybe tone it down, you two?” Masaru Bakugo spoke sheepishly, glancing around at the onlookers around them.

“QUIET!” The two Bakugo women turned to the man, who shrank back in fear.

“Great!” Katsumi pulled out her phone, examining her reflection in the screen. “Now I’ve gotta fix it when we get there! You stupid-GAH!” The girl was interrupted as her mother grabbed her by the ear.

“If that big mouth of yours scares off my future son-in-law, I swear to god!” Mitsuki threatened through gritted teeth.

“Would you stop it with that already!?” The younger girl pushed away from her mother’s grasp. “I don’t like freakin’ Deku like that!”

“Huh, that’s funny. I never said Deku .” Mitsuki smirked.

“Y-You damn old hag!” Sparks began to pop in Katsumi’s clenched fists as her cheeks began burning red.

Before she could further lose her temper, the girl angrily turned away from her parents before shoving her hands into her pockets and picking up her walking pace, her back slouching once again.

“That girl is hopeless.” Mitsuki shook her head.

“C’mon, you know how she gets.” Masaru interjected, now walking beside his wife. “And you have to admit, she’s improved a lot from how she was before U.A.”

“...You’re right.” The blonde woman replied, linking her arm around her husband’s. “We’re lucky parents.”

“Lucky to have such a talented young girl?”

“Lucky that she didn’t get herself into any more trouble than she did growing up. Lucky that she made friends that could actually tolerate her constant… you know.”

“You’re talking about Midoriya.” Masaru stated.

During his worldwide tour, the boy had mentioned in an interview that he’d experienced severe bullying while growing up, how being Quirkless had isolated him from his peers and singled him out as an easy target. He hadn’t mentioned anyone by name, but to anyone who knew the boy personally, it was clear who the primary offender was.

“We both know she tormented that boy when they were growing up.” Mitsuki replied glumly. “And yet, he would keep coming over everyday to see if ‘Kacchan’ could come outside to play. Even the kids she was nicer to were scared to play with her, but he kept reaching out. Even though she kept hurting him.”

“It was her first crush, she didn’t know how to express herself.” Her husband turned to their daughter who was only getting further ahead of them. “She still doesn’t.”

“This wasn’t pulling his hair or pushing him off the swings, Masaru!” The woman argued. “She was leaving him with burn scars and encouraging the other kids to throw rocks at him!"

“But they made up.” Masaru countered. “Katsumi said she apologized for everything and Midoriya forgave her.”

“I know, and if I’m being honest, I think he let her off a bit too easily.” Mitsuki pointed out. “But look, my point is that Izuku Midoriya, let’s face it, is probably the best thing to ever happen to our daughter. He managed to succeed with her where we failed and made her into someone worthy of being called a hero. And I’ll be damned if I’m gonna let her f*ck up this chance she has with him. We are not losing to Endeavor and his girl.”

“Um, Mitsuki, I don’t really think you should be making a competition out of-”

“f*ck that! We’re winning this sh*t! Now come on!” Mitsuki yelled, pulling her husband by the arm as they quickly approached U.A.’s campus.

As Shota Aizawa finished brushing his daughter’s hair, he reached behind him for a second hairband to tie it into a pigtail, only to come up empty-handed. Turning around, he saw that he’d forgotten to grab one before they began. This was unusual for him, but given how preoccupied his mind had been today, Shota excused his absentminded mistake. The ‘Problem Child’ was coming back tonight, and that no doubt meant even more headaches for him.

“Hold on Eri,” The man stood up, his prosthetic leg whirring as the knee unbent itself. “Let me ask Hitomi if she has a spare.”

“Okay!” The eight year old called back, her attention focused on the children’s show playing on the dorm’s television. It wasn’t as educational as Shota would’ve preferred, but it made her happy and he couldn’t help but spoil her.

Heights Alliance was still mostly empty seeing as how this year’s classes had yet to begin, with only the few students who lived on campus year-round still present at the dorms. One of which being Shota’s personal protege, Hitomi Shinso.

Shota didn’t know much about the girl’s family life but apparently her parents were split up and rather than living with either, she preferred to remain at U.A. in her off time instead. She claimed it was simply to train and help close the gap in skill between herself and the rest of class, but Shota had a feeling there was more to it than that.

When the elevator stopped on the third floor, Shota stepped out before walking over to his student’s room. Music blared loudly from the other side of her door, loud enough that the sound of him knocking on the door and calling out her name was drowned out. Sighing to himself, he reached for the doorknob and was surprised to find it unlocked.

Taking a cautious step into the room, the teacher searched the area with his one remaining eye, not immediately seeing the girl, he took another step in before calling out her name. Only after he was halfway into the room did the girl make her presence known, stepping out of her closet dressed in a pink bathrobe, curlers in her hair, and a green exfoliating cream spread across her face.

The two held awkward eye contact for about ten seconds before the girl finally spoke.

“G-GET OUT!” She yelled in a higher pitch than the older man had ever heard from her. Grabbing a pillow from off her bed she flung it at the retreating Shota as he quickly shut the door behind him.

Now standing out in the hall, the man let out an exasperated breath as he leaned forward. If he was being honest with himself, he forgot that Hitomi was a girl half of the time, he more just saw her as a younger version of himself. Calm and rational, if a bit boring to others. But he supposed it was wrong of him to assume that. She was her own person with her own life.

Still, this was a side of the girl he’d never seen before. He was pretty sure Hitomi had never even heard of makeup, let alone knew how to use it. In the two years he had known and trained the girl, she had never once shown any interest in her outward appearance.

So what made tonight so different?

It took half a second for the man to connect the dots and realize what had his student in such a mood. Placing his head in his palm, the man let out a second, even louder sigh.

“Even halfway across the world, the Problem Child is giving me headaches.”

“I’m going.”

“No Dad, you don’t need to. It’s mainly just for the students.”

“Nice try Shoko, but I’m in a group chat with the other parents. I know that they’re all coming as well.” Enji Todoroki said into his phone, immediately hearing an exasperated sigh from his daughter on the other end. “I’ll be on my way once I’m finished up here.”

“Hey man,” The criminal he was holding by the shirt collar spoke. “If you’ve gotta leave early, I’d completely understa-”

“Quiet you!”

“Fine, you can come.” Shoko finally relented. “Just please try not to embarrass me in front of my friends.”

“Embarrass you?” Endeavor raised an eyebrow. “How would I embarrass you?”

“Is that a legitimate question or are you looking for tips?”

‘Why must you always be so difficult, Shoko?’ The flame hero wondered to himself.

“Just try not to talk about…” Shoko paused for a moment, considering her words. “Just try not to talk.”

‘No child should speak like this to their father.’ The Flame Hero thought to himself, clenching the tiny phone in his beefy hand.

“I’ll see you tonight then.” Enji replied before finishing the call.

“Kids, am I right?” The criminal asked casually, but Endeavor was far too lost in thought to pay him any mind.

“Onima, turn this man in to the police before I incinerate him.”

“Err…yes sir.” The sidekick in question nodded, grabbing the criminal before carrying him off, leaving Enji with his other two Flaming Sidekickers.

“Shoko…” The large man looked down at his phone before letting out a long sigh.

“If it’s any consolation sir,” A hero wrapped in bandages, Kido, spoke up. “She’s probably just nervous about tonight.”

“Nervous?” Enji raised a flaming eyebrow.

“Well duh!” A woman with burning green hair chimed in. “The guy she’s crushing on is coming back after a year abroad.”

“Crush!?” Endeavor’s eyes widened and the flames on his face suddenly flaring up. “Midoriya!?”

“W-What she means is-” Kido tried to intervene only to be cut off.

“Oh come on ! You really couldn’t tell? He’s practically all she ever talks about at the agency! ‘Midoriya this, Midoriya that, did you see what Midoriya did on the news today?’ It’s gotten pretty damn annoying.”

“Burnin!”

“What? It’s true!”

While his sidekicks argued, Enji’s mind went into overdrive, trying to recall any mention of crushes or Midoriya. Nothing came to mind. Had he really been that ignorant? Or had Shoko deliberately hid this from him? When did Shoko even start liking boys like that!?

“I have to call her back.” He finally said, turning back to his phone.

“No!” Both Kido and Burnin cried, causing the hero to pause for a moment.

“I’m sure she’s already stressed as is, we don’t need to add more on to that.” Kido advised.

“And you definitely can’t tell her that we told you about her crush!” Burnin added.

“ We? ” Kido countered. “It was you who said it!”

“If I’m goin’ down, I’m bringing you all down with me!”

Meanwhile Enji’s world was spinning as he tried to wrap his head around the facts he’d just been presented with. Shoko. Deku. Tonight. Shoko and Deku. Together. Grandchildren. Godlike. Superhuman. Grandchildren.

Gritting his teeth, he crushed the phone in his hand before the flames across his face ignited hotter than ever.

“SHOKOOOOO!”

U.A. had changed a lot while Izuku had been away. Granted, the last time he’d seen the school it had more or less been destroyed in a final battle against a truly monstrous Tomura Shigaraki. But still, seeing it completely rebuilt and renovated after only a year, it once again felt like the boy was viewing it in person for the first time.

While the main school building was the same as ever, the area surrounding the school had been completely overhauled. Serving as an evacuation center during the Villain War, many new buildings had to be constructed to house and feed the refugees. Many had lost their homes during the conflict, and were still living on U.A. grounds even a year later, causing the area surrounding the school to become its own little town on campus.

Some of the buildings were still serving as housing for the tenants while others had been converted into new facilities altogether. U.A. now had its own cafe, bakery, spa, even an adoption center set up for the stray animals rescued during the war.

It was truly amazing just how different things were now.

Walking up to the 3-A dorms, Izuku noticed that the lights inside were shut off, and quickly wondered to himself if he’d gotten here too late. However, he’d be remiss if he didn’t at least go inside to check first. Turning the handle, he was surprised to find that the door opened, and quickly stepped inside.

“Um, Principal Nezu? Are you here?” He called out into the dark room, his hand fumbling for the lightswitch. “Is… Is this another test? Because I really-”

“SUUURPRIIIISE!!!”

“AH!”

*CRASH!*

Izuku let out a scream, and with lightning sparking off of him, he jumped straight up into the air, bashing his head into the ceiling before falling back to the ground.

“...Ow.”

“...”

“Um… surprise!” Kaminari’s voice was the first to break the awkward silence.

“Everybody? What? I-I don’t understand.” Rubbing his head, Izuku sat up, his eyes widening as a short woman with green hair stepped out of the crowd. “Mom? You said you were working late tonight!”

“Sorry about that, sweetie. I had to tell a little white lie.” The woman smiled with tears in her eyes before wrapping her arms around her son’s waist. “I missed you so much.”

“M-Mom…” Izuku’s own eyes began to grow wet as he returned the hug. “C’mon mom *sniff* other people are watching.”

“I don’t think anyone would fault you for missing your mother, my boy.” A skinny blond man stepped out of the crowd.

“All Might!” Izuku beamed.

The mentor nodded to his student who reciprocated the gesture, his smile growing even wider as more tears began to pour from his eyes.

“Izuku! My god, look how you’ve grown!” Another older woman cut through the crowd, wrapping an arm around the boy’s shoulders as she pulled him down to her height. “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten your aunt Mitsuki?” The blonde began ruffling the taller boy’s hair.

Izuku had certainly grown in his time away, now standing a head taller than the older woman before him. He’d also filled out quite a bit, his shoulders were broader, his arms were bigger, even his jawline was more chiseled. His physique wasn’t quite prime All Might level, the boy was still much leaner than his predecessor, but no one would mistake him for being scrawny again any time soon.

“Of course I didn’t, Auntie.” Izuku smiled at the gesture.

“Y’know…Katsumi would talk about you every day while you were-”

*BOOM!*

“Shut it you hag!” A girl who looked like a younger version of Mitsuki yelled, sparks flying out of her hands and a bright blush on her face. “Stop telling lies!”

“Kacchan!” Izuku flashed the girl a bright smile, causing her face to grow even more red.

“Deku!” Another, much kinder voice called out.

“Urarak-oof!”

A short brunette comet crashed into the boy, wrapping her arms around him while making sure to lift her pinkies. Gazing down at the girl in surprise, Mitsuki released the younger boy before turning back to her daughter, spotting a jealous look in the girl’s eyes as her fingers twitched aggressively.

Ochako Uraraka was a welcome sight to the green-haired boy. Her brown hair was still in the same bob cut as their first year, but everything else about her seemed different. She seemed more mature. Her cute face had only grown more beautiful. She had grown a bit in height, more so in other places. Her pink button-up shirt and tight black pants made her hourglass figure readily apparent. More than anything however, Izuku was simply glad to see his friend.

“Deku…” She looked him over with wide eyes, trailing up and down his body more than once. “Wow you, um…wow.” Unconsciously, the brunette reached a finger out and poked one of the boy’s large pecs.

Realizing what she had just done, Ochako’s face grew red in embarrassment and she quickly released her hands from Izuku’s person. In response, Izuku gave a soft chuckle and a blush of his own in response, but otherwise brushed off the awkward situation.

In the crowd behind them, several small explosions went off.

“Deku-san!” Two small voices called out from the crowd, followed by the sound of tiny, shuffling feet.

“Kota! Eri!” Izuku smiled as he crouched down, greeting the seven and eight year old respectively. “Look how big you’ve gotten!”

The two smaller children threw themselves into a group hug with their honorary big brother. Returning the hug with vigor, Izuku lifted the pair up in his arms, carrying one in each arm as though they weighed nothing to him. Eri smiled excitedly, laughing as she wrapped her arms around Izuku’s neck. Kota flushed in embarrassment, pulling down his cap shyly, but accepted the embrace nonetheless.

“It's good to be back after so long. I missed everyone back home like crazy while I was away. And it feels kinda strange, everyone looks so different from how I remember.” Izuku noted, looking over at his classmates.

“You look in a mirror lately dude?” Sero’s voice called out from the crowd. “You changed more than anyone!”

“Yeah.” The green-haired boy laughed heartily. “I-uh, I guess so.”

“...It’s weird, I guess I’m gonna have to get used to looking up at you from now on.” Uraraka stated, her amber eyes locking onto Izuku’s green ones for a moment before they immediately turned away in embarrassment.

“Yeah, I… I guess so.” He repeated, more quietly this time.

The party proceeded fairly normally from there. The dorm common room was filled with people all looking to welcome Izuku home. The whole of Class A, including several of their families, the U.A. staff, Eri, Kota, The puss*cats, and a few other pro heroes had all taken the time to show up just for him.

Izuku was overwhelmed with the attention, but regardless he made it a point to speak to everyone at least once and thank them for their kindness. Some had even decided to greet him with presents.

“Midoriya!” A voice spoke out from the crowd, beckoning Izuku over to their position.

“Oh, hey Mineta.” Izuku greeted the ball-haired boy who now seemed shorter than ever. “How’s it going?”

“Hey man, I got you a gift to welcome you back.” Mineta pulled a thin paperback book from his back pocket before handing it to the taller boy. “I know how much you love taking notes on quirks n’ stuff, so I figured I’d give you some notes of my own.”

“Mineta, you started taking hero notes?” Izuku blinked in surprise. Setting down a potted plant from Kamui Woods on a nearby table, he accepted the book and opened its pages. “I-I’m honored. Thank you so much! This is great, I’d love to compare thoughts about…”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“Mineta...This is tentacle hentai.” Midoriya pointed out.

“No need to thank me. I’m sure you’ll put it to good use.” The small boy waved off Izuku’s words as though they were a compliment. “And uh, well, seeing as how we’re such good pals…And seeing as how you’re a global celebrity and all that…It’scoolifIsellsomeofyourstuffonlineright?”

“I’m sorry what?”

“Cool!” Mineta winked, pointing finger guns at Izuku as he backed away. “Just wanted to be sure! See ya later bud!” The smaller boy disappeared into the crowd, leaving Izuku standing by himself, dumbfounded.

“Yo! Midori!” Another voice from behind caused Izuku to jump in surprise. “Ooh, whatcha got there?”

“Ah! Izuku cried out before quickly shoving the book into the back of his pants, tucked beneath his shirt. “A-A-Ashido! Uh, n-nothing! What’s um…w-what’s going on with you? How are things? You look nice. Did your horns get bigger?”

“That just means I’m just happy to see you.” The pink-haired girl replied with a wink, causing Izuku’s face to light up even more. “But there’s someone else I know who’s even happier~!”

Ashido turned around, only to find that the space behind her was vacant.

“Um, who?” Izuku questioned.

Pouting her cheeks, the girl stamped her foot angrily before turning back to him.

“Wait here.” She ordered, to which Izuku quickly nodded, despite his confusion. She then proceeded to push through the crowd, attempting to find her target.

Watching her leave, Izuku let out a quiet sigh of relief, glad that the girl hadn’t caught him with Mineta’s dirty magazine.

“Midoriya.”

“Ah!” The boy let out a second high pitched yelp as a cold hand touched his shoulder. Spinning around, he saw that the hand belonged to Class A’s resident ice queen and one of his closest friends.

Shoko Todoroki had always been regarded as beautiful, but in the year since Izuku had been away, she had only grown more so. Her dual colored hair was fixed into a half bun with the rest of it cascading down past her shoulders and onto her dress. The royal blue halter top and black jeans looked fantastic on her, accentuating her figure while not showing too much skin.

“This fell out of your pants.” The girl stated bluntly, handing Izuku the book from Mineta.

Directly on the cover was a woman in an intimate pose with a very aggressive looking octopus.

“That’s not…I mean, I’m not…” He tried to find the words.

“You should probably take it before someone else sees.” She pointed out.

“R-Right.” He nodded, accepting the book from Todoroki’s hand before quickly tucking it away, safely this time. “Um, y-you look um, nice, Todoroki-san.”

At his words, the girl gave a soft smile, tilting her head ever so slightly.

“Thanks. So do you. I take it you’ve gotten even stronger over the past year?” Her eyes flickered from Izuku’s freckled face to his large biceps before returning to his face.

“Of course.” Izuku smiled. “No doubt you’ve grown as well.”

“Naturally.” She smirked back at him. “I expect we’ve got quite a match to look forward to at the next Sports Festival.”

“I don’t intend to lose this time.”

“Me neither.”

The pair stared each other down intensely for a moment before losing their composure, laughing at the memories of their past selves. They had come a long way from their relationship during their last Sports Festival. Shoko inwardly cringed remembering how she had acted toward her now best friend back then.

Looking over toward the other guests, the youngest Todoroki sighed as she spotted a figure in the crowd.

“Ugh, I’ve gotta go. My dad is talking with Mrs. Bakugo, I’ve gotta put a stop to this before things get ugly.”

“Oh, um…Okay?” Izuku responded, confused.

As the girl turned to leave, she turned back to Izuku with a final glance.

“And Midoriya? I won’t judge your personal preferences, but try to keep those kinds of books private. There are children here.”

“I-It isn’t mi-aaand you’re gone.” Izuku sighed. “Ugh, I really hope she doesn’t get the wrong idea about me.”

“Deku!”

“Ah!” Izuku whipped his head around to find who had snuck up behind him this time.

“Quit f*cking screaming! It’s getting on my nerves!” Katsumi Bakugo yelled at him, smacking him upside the head.

The fiery blonde was a near carbon copy of her mother, though with twice the anger. She was dressed in a white button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a long black skirt. Beneath the skirt were a large pair of black boots with orange straps, similar to the ones in her hero costume. Her hair, which was now long enough to reach down her back, was still a wild and unkempt mane, even pulled back into a ponytail.

“Sorry Kacchan, I-I’m a little tired and it's making me a bit…jumpy. I-uh,” Izuku looked down for a moment. “I’ll try to be better.”

Bakugo gave the boy a once-over, noticing the purple bags beneath his eyes and the slight shaking in his fingertips. Clearly, the boy had picked up some baggage in his time away, baggage that he wasn’t ready to unpack yet. Not with her.

“Tch. Whatever, nerd.” The blonde flipped her ponytail and crossed her arms, turning her head to avoid his gaze.

“...How have you been Kacchan?”

“Fine.” She stated plainly, before quickly adding to it. “Getting a hell of a lot stronger than you.”

“Hehe, I don’t doubt it.” Izuku smiled, brushing back his hair sheepishly. He knew better than to challenge that statement, otherwise they could be here for hours. Making the executive decision to change the subject, the boy took in the recent changes to his friend’s appearance.

“You grew your hair out.” He gestured to the girl’s untamed mess of a ponytail. “I like it.”

“Not like it matters what you think, Deku!” Bakugo yelled, blood rushing to her face. “I-I’m just supposed to hand you this stupid present that my parents wanted to give you!” Reaching into her bag, she quickly thrusted a small box in her hand directly into his chest, practically punching him in the process.

“Kacchan,” Izuku looked down at the box before looking back at the girl, a soft smile on his face. “Thank you.”

“Ergh! I told you!” She snarled, speaking through gritted teeth. “It. Isn’t. From. Me!”

Opening the box, Izuku’s eyes widened and he quickly reached in. Pulling free a small figurine still encased in its plastic packaging, he examined it from every angle.

“K-Kacchan… I-I-Is this…” He held up the figurine as though it were solid gold. “The Limited Edition Bronze Age All Might Bobblehead with the infamous misprinted label?”

The blonde refused to meet his eyes, instead opting to stare at the floor. However, she gave a subtle nod that told Izuku that he was correct.

“There… There are less than twenty of these in the world! Kacchan this is…” The boy was full on crying now. “T-T-THANK YOOOOU!” He wrapped the shorter girl in a bear hug, to which she immediately began punching him and yelling for him to let go.

Across the room, several of the class’ boys watched the violent scene of Bakugo’s wrath unfold.

“Geez, she is really laying into him.” Hanta Sero pointed out, watching as the blonde girl sent a knee between Midoriya’s legs.

“Oof,” Denki Kaminari winced, feeling a phantom pain in his own crotch. “If this is how she expresses affection, I pity her future husband.”

“She’s probably just mad that now, even Midoriya has bigger boobs than her.” Mineta smirked, joking at the flat-chested girl’s expense.

“Uh, Mineta? I’d watch it if I were you.” Kaminari warned. “Last time you brought up chest sizes, Bakugo nearly put you in the morgue.”

“She’s not gonna hear anything, she’s too busy with Midori-”

“Oh Bakugooo!” Kyoka Jirou suddenly stepped between the group of boys, twirling one of her elongated earlobes around her finger.

All three boys felt their blood turn to ice.

“Run!” Kaminari yelled, and the trio took off.

Inko stood calmly, drinking a cup of tea as she watched Japan’s number one hero arguing heatedly with her best friend of twenty years.

“I’m not saying that there’s anything wrong with Katsumi! Far from it, I trained her myself! However, Shoko is clearly the superior hero in every way!” Endeavor argued. “She will surpass me in power in only a few years time and is already on track to inherit my agency.”

“Ha! Nepotism be damned! My Katsumi doesn’t need any help reaching the top hero spot! She’ll surpass you and your daughter all on her own!” Mitsuki proudly proclaimed.

The two proud parents stared each other down intensely, their ferocity somehow equal. To settle the situation down, Masaru stepped in to calm down Mitsuki while Endeavor’s two daughters, Shoko and Fuyumi pulled their father away for a scolding.

“Excuse me? Mrs. Midoriya?” The stout woman turned around to see a girl with long lilac hair and tired eyes standing before her. She was dressed in a long-sleeved black shirt that cut off near the midriff and a red plaid skirt with dark fishnets accompanied by a pair of large leather boots.

“Oh! Um, hello.” Inko greeted the girl with a warm smile, causing the already sheepish-looking girl to become even more so.

“You uh, probably don’t know me, but I’m a friend of your son’s-”

“Oh! You’re Shinso! Right?” Inko correctly guessed, much to Hitomi’s surprise. “I remember seeing you fight against my son at the Sports Festival! Izuku told me all about you!”

Shinso’s eyes widened in surprise as the older woman continued.

“He told me how inspired he was by your dream to become a hero despite how people had judged you for your quirk! And the day you got accepted into the hero course?” Inko wrapped the girl’s hands in her own. “Oh my goodness, he was so excited for you! He went on and on about the potential applications of your quirk and how cool you looked using your special scarf techniques, you know how he gets. He’ll talk your ear off if you let him, but I guess I’m not much better, huh? Here I am, chattering away when it was you who wanted to talk to me in the first place. I’m so sorry sweetie, what was it you wanted to talk about?”

Inko looked up at the taller girl to see her stunned face with tears rolling down her cheeks, smearing her mascara.

“Oh, honey!” The older woman exclaimed, a motherly concern in her eyes. “What’s wrong? Did…Did I offend you somehow? I am so sorry! Sometimes I just run my mouth and-”

“N-No.” Shinso assured her. “No. You didn’t offend me. I’m sorry *sniff* , I um…I have to go now. It was nice meeting you.” She said quickly before leaving for the bathroom, covering her face in the process.

Inko raised a hand to stop the girl, but could do nothing as Shinso quickly exited the room.

Tsuyu Asui sat on the couch with a simple cup of hot water in her hands. Despite it being April, she had opted to wear a large woolen sweater that went past her hands and waist, beneath it, a long black skirt that extended past her knees and tall white socks under her brown loafers.

Ochako and several others had asked if she was feeling sick or chilly tonight to which the girl had shook her head. She didn’t want to take any more attention off of the guest of honor, so she had opted to take a break from socializing, instead she simply enjoyed the cheerful atmosphere.

Next to her, Ganma Asui sat in a similar position to his daughter, quietly observing the others between sips of water.

“You aren’t going to speak with your friend?” He finally asked, turning to his little girl.

“He’s busy with the others right now. I can speak with him later.”

“I’m sure he wants to see you again after being away so long. Ribbit. Didn’t you say you two were good friends?” The older man asked.

“He’s good friends with most of the class, kero. I don’t think he’ll mind waiting a little longer to speak with me.”

“Tsuyu, is this about your-”

“I really don’t want to talk about this right now, dad.” The green-haired girl furrowed her brow, tightening her grip on her cup. “Can we just sit quietly please?”

“...”

“...”

“It’s really nothing to be ashamed of-” Ganma began but was cut off as his daughter stood up and walked away. Not wanting to cause a scene, the man simply sighed as Tsuyu walked away from him.

“Tooru! There you are! What are you doing back here?” Mina called out to the invisible girl.

“Mina, I…I can’t do it.” From the corner of the room, Tooru Hagakure stood anxiously, her red sequin dress seemingly floating in the air. “Not here, not now.”

The pink girl’s expression turned to one of worry as she placed a hand on her friend’s shoulder. She couldn’t see Tooru’s expression, but she didn’t need to to tell what the girl was thinking. The invisible girl had always had issues with her confidence.

Mina had thought she had grown out of it by now, especially with the recent development with her powers, but it seemed that she was still plagued with doubts even now.

“You were so excited though…” Mina reminded the girl in a soft tone.

Hagakure whirled around and wrapped herself around Mina for comfort.

“I-I’m sorry.” She said quietly. Mina could feel the girl’s tears landing on her shoulder.

“It’s okay.” Mina ran her hands through Tooru’s hair. “I’ve got you. Don’t even worry about it girl, you’ve got plenty of time to tell him.”

The party went on for hours, so long that the already jetlagged Izuku passed out on the living room couch with bags under his eyes and a peaceful look on his face. A few of the rowdier boys in the class had drawn cat whiskers on his face with markers and balanced a potted plant on his head, taking several pictures to post online. Mineta had called it a ‘social media goldmine.’

Many of the guests had gone home for the night, mostly the parents and pro heroes, but a few, namely the puss*cats, were still present to discuss business with Aizawa and the other teachers. Aizawa carried a sleeping Eri in his arms while he spoke, meanwhile Kota held Mandalay’s hand, barely remaining conscious as the two adults spoke in terms well beyond his understanding.

So while Mandalay and the others talked business, Ryuko Tsuchikawa, better known as Pixie-Bob, bored and slightly tipsy, decided to walk over to the group of 3-A’s female students to catch up on the latest gossip.

“So guuuurls, how goes it? Looking forward to training camp this year?” Ryuko asked.

“Ugh.” Katsumi Bakugo, leaning in the corner of the room, sneered at the intrusive older woman.

“Oh, hello Ms. Tsuchikawa!” Yaoyorozu greeted the older woman politely. “We were actually just discussing that. We’re really hoping to finetune some proper-”

“Yeah yeah yeah,” Ryuko waved her hand dismissively. “So what’s the deal with Greenie? In that last interview he more or less revealed he was single. But you girls know him best, what’s the ‘real’ scoop? Any of you seeing him?”

All of the girls present widened their eyes in surprise, several of them sporting blushes, but whether it was toward the blatant question or their potential answers, Ryuko couldn’t tell.

“What business is it of yours, you old hag?!” The hotheaded blonde yelled, suddenly taking an aggressive stance.

“I’m eighteen at heart!” Ryuko grinned menacingly, a shadow growing over her face and a feral glint in her eyes as she flexed her hands like cat claws.

“Bakugo, please!” Yaoyorozu raised a hand to quiet her classmate. “Midoriya is sleeping.”

While the raven-haired girl was distracted dealing with the fiery blonde, Tsuyu Asui stepped forward to address the older woman.

“To answer your question, no. None of us are dating Midoriya, at least to my knowledge. Between our classes and hero work, and him constantly traveling, none of us have even spoken to him this past year.”

“Oooh fun. I guess the race is on then.” Ryuko said excitedly.

“Race?” Shoko Todoroki asked, a look of confusion in her heterochromatic eyes.

“Oh come ooon .” Ryuko slumped her shoulders before gesturing toward the sleeping Midoriya with both hands. “You girls have the world’s most sought-after man sleeping on your living room couch right now. As soon as the media sees him back home in Japan, things are gonna get crazy around here. Fangirls will be throwing themselves at his feet to get him to look their way. You’re telling me none of you want to be the first one to lock that down?”

“That sounds like way more trouble than it's worth.” Kyoka Jirou scoffed, crossing her arms.

Yaoyorozu raised her hand. “Why would they leap toward his feet specifically? Would it not be easier to simply talk to him?”

“C-Come on you guys!” Tooru Hagakure spoke up, uncharacteristically stuttering. “This…This is Midori we’re talking about here! He can barely even look at girls when he speaks to them! He’s not some sex-crazed playboy!”

“You may be surprised.” Todoroki muttered under her breath.

“Regardless of his new status, I say we treat him the same as we always have, kero.” Tsuyu added. “Midoriya would probably prefer that as well.”

“Well then, I suppose if none of you are after him…” Ryuko turned to the sleeping boy before smirking.

“Don’t even think about it, crazy cat bitch!”

“Bakugo!” Yaoyorozu turned to the girl in question.

“Who does she think she is?! Saying all this sh*t about Deku!” The fiery blonde approached the older woman before placing a finger to Ryuko’s chest. “You stay the hell away from him. You hear me? There ain’t no damn competition for that damn nerd over there.”

“Meeooow, someone’s feeling catty tonight. Guess we know who’s in the lead for now.”

“As crass as she’s being, I have to agree with Bakugo. There’s no ‘lead’ and no ‘race’, Ms. Tsuchikawa.” Yaoyorozu stepped forward, placing a hand to her chest. “All of us are simply looking forward to a nice, peaceful school year and finishing our time at U.A.”

“Kero, agreed.” Asui nodded her head. “Besides, we’re all too busy to worry about things like romance.”

“Deku’s free to do whoever he chooses. A-And so are we.” Uraraka added.

Everyone turned to stare at the girl with wide eyes.

“What’s wrong?” She asked

“You mean ‘ whatever ’, right?” Jirou asked.

“Huh?”

“You said ‘ who ever’ he chooses.”

Uraraka’s face immediately flared up as she frantically began waving her hands.

“N-N-No I didn’t! I swear! ‘D-Deku’s free to do whatever he chooses.’ That’s what I said!” She turned to Tsuyu with a desperate look. “You heard me say that, right Tsu?”

“Kero, sorry Ochako. You said ‘who’ .”

“Tsu…You betrayed me…” Uraraka muttered as she began to float away with her face covered by her hands.

“Well, now I’m not sure who’s in the lead anymore.” Ryuko smiled devilishly. “But it looks like this could be fun. You girls will have to tell me all about it when you come back to camp this summer.” She moved to turn back to the other puss*cats. “Oh, and a piece of advice. I’d act quickly before those Class B girl’s get their hands on him. Some of them seem pretty damn thirsty.”

The older woman waved goodbye as she and her team gathered at the front door to leave.

“I cannot believe how much I hate her.” Katsumi stated through gritted teeth.

“She’s only teasing, Bakugo.” Ashido pointed out. “The more reactions you give the more enjoyment she gets out of it.”

“Shut it, Pink!”

“Whatever the case,” Yaoyorozu interjected. “I believe what Tsu pointed out earlier was correct. Even if he is famous now, Midoriya is first and foremost our friend. And even if it has been a year, we should still treat him the same as we always have. I think we can all agree that he, and us for that matter, deserve some normalcy after everything that’s happened in the past year. Agreed?”

“Agreed.” Several of the others responded in unison.

“Wonderful. Then let’s all try to have fun in our last year at U.A.”

“Right.” Tooru agreed. “There is no such thing as a ‘race for Midoriya.’”

“Totally.” Ochako added, having floated back down.

“Obviously.” Katsumi rolled her eyes.

“Hmm.” Shoko nodded.

They were all in agreement.

… So why was the atmosphere so tense?

Izuku was lying on a plush king-sized bed, the room dimly illuminated by candlelight. To his right he could hear the bathroom faucet shutting off as the door creaked open.

“Hey there, Hero.” A familiar brunette greeted him sultrily. “Welcome home.”

Ochako Uraraka was dressed in elegant white lace lingerie complete with stockings connected to a garterbelt. Running her hand up her thigh directly to her breast, she let out a soft moan while closing her eyes and pouting her lips sensually.

“H-Hey-I mean *ahem* Hey.” Izuku greeted back in a deep voice, his eyes half-lidded. “You look… breathtaking.”

“Oh Deku, you charmer.” The girl blushed at the compliment, walking over to the bed with an exaggerated sway in her hips. “You always know just what to say.”

“Makes it easy when I love everything about you.”

She had made it onto the bed by now, slowly crawling toward Izuku on her hands and knees, like a lioness stalking its prey across a silk savanna. Her eyes trailed up Izuku’s body, soaking in every detail of his lean physique before her amber eyes locked onto his emerald ones.

Leaping forward, she tackled him down onto the sheets, pinning his wrists with her hands. With him now at her mercy, she lowered her head first to his mess of green hair, inhaling his scent before letting out a hot, satisfied breath. Lowering her head further, she began placing small love bites along his shoulder, working her way up to his neck.

She stopped at his earlobe, biting down slightly harder on it before she whispered in his ear.

“I brought along a friend for us to play with tonight.” She spoke softly.

“Please tell me that isn’t code for ‘something’s going into your butt.’” Izuku replied, half-jokingly.

“No.” Ochako giggled, shaking her head. “A real friend. One who’s very excited to see you again too.”

Izuku, already very turned on, felt himself going to full-mast between the brunette’s thighs. Images of the various girls in his class flickered through his mind.

‘Shoko? Tsuyu? Who could it be?’ The possibilities excited the Izuku more than he was willing to admit. Despite being a symbol of heroism to millions around the world, he was still a teenage boy with all of the raging hormones that came with that.

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

A rapping sounded at the bedroom door and Izuku suddenly felt a chill run down his spine and ice fill his veins. Paralyzed as though he’d been hit by Stain’s quirk again, any feeling of arousal was quickly replaced by fear.

*Knock!* *Knock!* *Knock!*

“Oh? Sounds like they’re here!” The girl on top of Izuku said giddily, only now her voice was… different .

Blonde hair tied up in messy buns had replaced the brunette bob cut. A wide, fanged smile replaced the sweet, soft one that he loved. Two crazed cat-like eyes stared back into his own. Casting his gaze downward, he saw that a knife was at his throat, his own terrified face reflecting off the surface.

“Are you ready darling?” She asked Izuku with a wild look.

Izuku tried to speak but no sound escaped. He tried to shake his head ‘no’ but couldn’t move his body.

*KNOCK!* *KNOCK!* *KNOCK!*

“ Come in~! ” Himiko Toga called out playfully.

Cracks formed around the doorframe and spread to the walls as the wooden door rotted into nothing. A figure stepped into the room, long stark white hair obscuring their face. Their body was a sickly color and their skin was pulled tightly against their bones and muscles, dark pulsing veins sitting just beneath the surface.

“Welcome home,” A raspy voice spoke from chapped, scarred lips. “Hero.”

Izuku sat up in his bed, caked in sweat and breathing heavily. Looking around, he saw that he was in his bedroom. His actual bedroom. In his actual home.

Alone.

Safe.

Memories of his time abroad, of the party with his friends, of coming home and finally resting in his own bed, all hit him at once. Letting out a heavy sigh, Izuku leaned back and let his head hit the wall behind him. His heart was still racing and his lungs still needed a moment to catch up with him, so he simply closed his eyes and tried to focus on calming down.

“Izuku? Izuku, are you alright?” Nana Shimura’s ghostly pink visage appeared at his side.

Izuku simply nodded his head, unable to speak at the moment.

“Jesus, kid. You scared the living sh*t out of us!” Daigoro Banjo’s voice chastised him as his ghost appeared on Izuku’s right.

Across from him, Nana shook her head and gestured for the fifth wielder to leave to which he complied, raising his hands in surrender before fading into nothing.

“Calm down Izuku. You’re safe. Everybody is safe.” Nana’s ghostly hand rested on Izuku’s shoulder and the boy felt himself grow calmer.

“ *huff* Thank you. *huff* ” He managed to get out between breaths.

“Of course. Are you going to be alright?”

“Just a bad *huff* dream.” Izuku said, moreso trying to assure himself than Nana.

“Just a bad dream.”

Chapter 2: Lovefool

Chapter Text

Inko Midoriya sat in the living room of her two bedroom apartment watching the morning news while she enjoyed a fresh cup of coffee and cut coupons from the daily newspaper. The space was small and modest with little decor to speak of aside from a few houseplants, but Inko enjoyed it that way.

She could, of course, move somewhere bigger and nicer to live, lord knows they had the money for it now with how much Izuku was being paid in royalties. Nowadays, everybody loved Deku, so of course branded merchandise was an inevitability. Even so, one wouldn’t guess that the Midoriya household was raking in very much income at all based on how they lived.

“Mom?” A voice called from Izuku’s bedroom, causing the forty-two year old to spit out her coffee in surprise.

‘Oh my goodness, I forgot he was home!’ She thought to herself, calming her breathing. Between his time at U.A. and his year abroad Inko had more or less gotten used to her son being away from home, so to hear her usual morning silence broken by another voice had nearly given her a heart attack.

“Y-Yes?” She asked, recomposing herself as she set down her mug and turned toward her son’s bedroom door.

The boy stepped out of his room dressed in a t-shirt that strained heavily against his muscular physique and shorts that barely covered half of his thighs.

“I think I need new clothes.” He said, gesturing toward his ill-fitting outfit.

“Pfft!” Inko couldn’t help but giggle at the comical display.

Izuku smiled seeing his mother in such good spirits. He had missed her while he was away, and even if he was currently a laughingstock, he would gladly bear it for her happiness.

“Sorry, hehe, sorry about that Izuku.” She giggled to herself. “But, you don’t have clothes from your trip? What have you been wearing this past year?”

“My hero suit mostly. Aside from that, my outfits were always picked out for me for interviews and stuff.” Izuku admitted.

“Well, I could drop by the mall later today and pick up some new clothes for you. I imagine you’re still pretty exhausted from your trip.”

“No, it’s fine. If anything, I need to get out and stretch my legs. Also, you have to get to work soon, don’t you?”

“Oh honey, I can take a day off.” Inko quickly offered.

“Mom, what you do is important, you shouldn’t just push that aside for my sake. Besides, I’m an adult now, I can buy my own clothes.”

“Hun’ you’re wearing a shirt that says ‘pants’ on the front of it.”

“You don’t like the ‘pants’ shirt?”

“Nobody likes the ‘pants’ shirt.”

Izuku walked through the Kiyashi Ward shopping center in a hoodie, sunglasses, cap, and jeans borrowed from the neighbor. As he did so, he couldn’t help but remember his encounter with Shigaraki at this same mall less than two years ago. It seemed like a lifetime ago now, Izuku had experienced several life-changing events since then and had grown into a far different person than he was back then.

He had convinced his mother to let him go shopping by himself, which ended up being a lot harder than it reasonably should have been for a seventeen year-old, let alone one who had saved the world. But now that he was here, Izuku really wasn’t sure where to start. Spotting the closest clothing store nearby, he stepped in and began to survey the clothes on display.

Most of it was hero merch.

An embarrassing amount of it was his hero merch.

Izuku still couldn’t wrap his head around being famous. It all felt so alien to him at times, less than three years ago he was a quirkless nobody collecting All Might action figures. Now Izuku had holographic trading cards with his face on them.

Holding up a shirt with ‘DEKU’ printed on it in bold letters, he sighed to himself. Was this how All Might had felt when he first became famous?

So… fraudulent?

“Are you planning on stealing that?” A voice asked from behind his back.

“N-No! I wasn’t! I swear I…” Izuku trailed off as he spun around. “T-Tokage-san?”

His fellow greenette from Class B stood before him in full hero attire, a blue bodysuit covered in what looked to be scales. She had apparently made some additions to her suit in the past year. Her outfit now sported a series of small dorsal plates and spiked tail across the back, like that of a stegosaurus and she had two curved horns attached to her mask just above the eyes.

“Yo.” Setsuna Tokage smiled, showing off her spiked teeth. “Heard you were back in town, Midori.”

“What are you doing here? How did you find me?”

“Well, that’s certainly a way to greet a classmate.” The girl crossed her arms but maintained her usual smirk.

“S-Sorry, um… How have you been?” Izuku asked awkwardly. It wasn’t as though the two of them had ever really talked before now, he really knew nothing about her aside from her quirk and fighting style.

“It’s fine dude, I was just messing with you.” Tokage assured him. “As for why I’m here; I’m on mall security duty today. With the hero shortage we’ve been going through lately, the students have had to pick up the slack and fill in on jobs for the pros. And how did I find you? Dude, you look suspicious as f*ck in that outfit.”

Izuku opened his mouth to say something, but no words escaped. Looking down at his outfit, he couldn’t exactly argue with her. He looked like someone who would appear in security camera footage on the nightly news.

“As soon as I saw those freckles,” The girl detached a floating finger, poking one of Izuku’s cheeks. “It was pretty obvious who you were.” The finger returned to her hand and Tokage brushed her hair aside.

Izuku couldn’t stop the blood from rushing to his cheeks at the girl’s touch.

“Please don’t tell anyone I’m here, Tokage-san. I’m really not ready to have a bunch of cameras stuffed in my face.”

“Don’t worry about it man, secret’s safe with me.” Tokage pantomimed zipping her mouth shut before leaning against a wall. “Besides, I’ve kinda got my hands full monitoring this place at the moment. The last thing I need is more people flooding the mall to get a chance to meet the Deku.”

“You’re watching over the whole mall?” Izuku raised an eyebrow. “Do you even have time for this conversation?”

“Eh, it’s fine.” She waved her hand dismissively. “Kodai’s watching over the north side. Plus, I’ve got some tricks that help me keep an eye out.”

As she spoke, an eyeball matching the two on the girl’s face floated down from the ceiling, hovering above Tokage’s hand.

“Whoa!” Izuku’s eyes widened in surprise. “That’s amazing! You can generate extra body parts while still maintaining the originals now?” In an instant, Izuku whipped out his notebook from seemingly nowhere and began quickly jotting down notes. “How does your body function across greater distances, is it some form of quantum entanglement? Do your detached pieces communicate via radio waves or another method? Is it an active effort to keep your parts floating or is it natural? Can you-”

“Chill dude.” Tokage let out a chuckle as she let the eye float away. “Most guys wait until at least the third date before they start exploring my body.”

“I-uh…” Izuku’s voice cracked as his face began to burn red. “I *ahem* Sorry. I’m kind of a quirk geek. I kinda tend to forget that most people find it creepy to have notes taken on them.” He quickly tucked his notebook away.

Tokage gave the taller boy a look of pity. Clearly he was embarrassed by her statement and more than a little disappointed at having his questions go unanswered.

“No problem dude. I’m not creeped out or anything.” She assured him before giving a toothy grin and elbowing him in the ribs. “Tell you what, buy me an overpriced mall pretzel and I’d be happy to answer whatever questions you may have.”

“Wh-Really?” Izuku looked at the girl in surprise, seeing no hint of deception on her face. “You don’t find it… y’know… nerdy?”

The lizardy girl scoffed, placing a hand on her hip.

“Midoriya, I got into U.A. on recommendation with a 3.9 GPA. I know I may not look the part buuuut,” Tokage’s head popped off of her body, floating up to Izuku’s ear before finishing her statement with a seductive whisper.

“I’m kind of a nerd too.”

“Who does she even think she is anyway? Saying something like that?” Ochako asked, throwing her arms up in frustration. “Like, was she trying to get a reaction out of me? Deku’s back and suddenly it’s like there’s a competition for him? A-And saying that Katsumi of all people was winning?”

“‘Chako-”

“I mean, everybody certainly teased me enough about Deku in our first year, I think that counts for something. Don’t you?”

“Ochako.”

“Like, I know I might not have outright called dibs, but-”

“Ochako!” Tsuyu snapped her friend out of her rambling.

“Huh?” The brunette turned to her friend.

“You’ve been talking about this non-stop since we got here. You’re being obsessive, kero.”

Ochako’s eyes widened and she clamped her hands over her mouth,

“Oh geez Tsu, I’m sorry!” She apologized quietly. “I-I didn’t realize I’d been going on for so long!”

“What Pixie-Bob said last night really got to you.” Tsuyu pointed out, tapping a finger to her mouth.

It wasn’t a question.

“M-Maybe a little…”

“Tsu-san? Ocha-san?” A small voice called out to them.

“Oh! Eri-chan!” Ochako smiled as the small girl walked up to the two older girls. “Did you find a pair you like?”

The trio were currently at a small store in the Kiyashi Ward shopping center, Ochako and Tsuyu standing in a corner of the room while Eri explored the store.

Seeing as how they were the two girls that Eri was most comfortable with, Aizawa had asked the duo if they would accompany his surrogate daughter for shopping while he attended a meeting with the U.A. staff. Eri had grown over the break and needed new shoes before the next semester began. The girls had happily complied, eager for a chance to spend time with the precious little girl.

“I like these ones.” Eri held up a pair of red sneakers.

“O-Oh yeah?” Ochako sweatdropped. “Why um… why those ones?”

“Kota was bragging at the party that he and Mr. Deku have matching shoes. I thought…” Eri stared at the floor, twisting her foot. “I thought maybe I could match too.”

‘Too cute!’ Ochako’s heart clenched in her chest.

“Hey Sis.” A monotone voice called from to the girls’ right.

A small boy with medium length black hair walked up to the two, holding an even smaller girl with twintails by the hand.

Seeing an opportunity for Eri to make new friends, Tsuyu had brought along her two siblings; Samidare, her younger brother, and Satsuki, her younger sister. Satsuki was close to Eri’s age and shared many of her interests, so Tsu was hoping that the two girls would click. Samidare on the other hand was mostly just brought along to not feel excluded. Though being the only boy in a group with four girls still clearly made him uncomfortable.

“Can I go to the arcade?”

“Sorry Sami, we’ve still got a few more stores to visit after this one.” The older sister apologized.

“Ugh,” Samidare rolled his eyes. “This is so stupid.”

Eri, overhearing the conversation, dropped her shoes and began to tremble as tears welled up in her eyes.

“I-I’m sorry…”

“Eri!” Ochako dropped to her knees to wrap the girl in a hug. “It’s okay. Don’t cry. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Sami!” Tsuyu stood up, angrily turning to her brother. “Apologize right now!”

“What? What did I do?”

“You were rude to Eri-chan! Apologize!”

“Geez, alright!” The boy huffed, turning to the younger girl. “I’m sorry I said this was stupid.”

Eri, wiping the tears from her eyes, simply nodded. Behind her, Ochako continued to stroke her hair to calm her down.

“W-We… We can do something else. S-Something more fun. R-Right?” Eri turned to Ochako with a quivering lip. “I don’t really need to shop for more clothes.”

“Eri…” Ochako frowned

“N-No, really! It’s fine.”

Tsuyu and Ochako exchanged a look of concern before both looking down at the horned girl.

“Kero, maybe Eri has taken a bit too much after Midoriya.”

“Ugh,” Setsuna stuck out her tongue as she took another bite of her pretzel. “I’m gonna be honest, this pretzel tastes like sh*t. Forget All for One, whoever decided to sell these for a thousand yen is the real criminal mastermind.”

“Did you want something else?” Midoriya asked, not looking up from his page as he jotted down notes at a nearly impossible pace.

“Nah, a deal’s a deal.” She replied, floating her hand over to drop the food in the nearest waste bin.

“Thanks again for doing this, Tokage-san. Not many heroes are usually willing to sit down and let me bombard them with questions.” Midoriya smiled, looking up from his notes and at the girl across from him. “One time I asked Mount Lady how her Gigantification quirk worked in relation to the Conservation of Mass. She told me that she ‘wasn’t religious.’ ” He stated with air quotes.

“Pfft!” Setsuna let out a laugh, leaning back in her chair. “Damn, Midori! I didn’t know you had jokes! I just kinda figured you won people over with big muscles and awkward charm.”

“Awkward… charm?” Midoriya looked confused.

“C’mon, you knoooow .” Setsuna gave the boy a skeptical look, finding that he genuinely didn’t understand. Her eyes widened in realization. “Oh my god, you don’t know.”

“Thief!” A voice suddenly interrupted the pair.

Setsuna whirled around to see two men in hoodies sprinting across the food court with large bags in hand. One was a lanky man with a mutation that gave him slinky-like legs while the other was quite a bit wider and stockier to the point of being shaped like a ball. The bags they carried were fit to burst with stolen merchandise.

‘Damn!’ She thought to herself. ‘They must’ve been in one of my blindspots!’

Turning back around, Setsuna saw Midoriya stand up to intervene before holding up a hand to stop him. Meeting his gaze, the nervous boy she had spoken to only moments ago was gone, in his place was the hero who had faced down Tomura Shigaraki without even blinking. Setsuna returned his serious look with her own, shaking her head, she spoke.

“You wanted to keep a low profile, right?” She asked rhetorically. “So let me do my job.”

Without waiting for a response, the reptilian hero leapt into action, chasing down the two thieves on foot.

“A hero?!” One of the men shouted in surprise before the pair picked up the pace.

Not wasting any time, Setsuna began disassembling her pieces on her back. Contrary to popular belief, the dinosaur-themed additions to her suit were not purely cosmetic, rather they allowed her to fully weaponize her quirk.

The dorsal plates lining her back began to fly directly ahead of her, their pointed edges forming into a large set of jaws akin to a floating bear trap. At her command, the jaws flew ahead of her and latched down on to the lanky man, trapping him between the teeth as they encircled his body and pinned his limbs.

“Allosaurus!”

“Dammit!” The captured thief cried, dropping to the floor. Looking up at his partner, he desperately pleaded. “Help!”

“Sorry!” His partner called back. Gripping his bag to his belly, the rotund man leapt into the air, curled into a large ball and began bouncing against the ground, causing havoc as he crushed tables and chairs beneath him in his attempt to flee.

“sh*t!” Setsuna gritted her teeth, now struggling to keep up with the bouncing man.

In an effort to keep up with the fleeing thief, Setsuna disconnected her torso from her legs and quickly flew her top half over the large ball and reeled back an armored fist.

“Extinction Impact!” In a blitz of speed, her fist rocketed down onto the man, the force of the blow burying him in a small crater.

Now completely still, the ball-like thief let out a groan of pain before passing out.

“Phew.” Setsuna let out a sigh as her pieces began to reconnect, growing new pieces of her back while the others continued to restrain the slinky-man. “That attack is killer on the wrist.” She whined, shaking out her right hand.

Around the crater, a crowd began to form looking down at the unconscious man. The mall-goers then looked up at the costumed hero who had brought down the two thieves with ease and began to applaud her for her actions.

“Oh!” Setsuna’s eyes widened as the crowd surrounded her. Some wanted selfies, others shook her hand. “Um, thank you, but I really need to go-”

“Tok-err... Lizardy!” Midoriya’s voice called from behind the crowd.

Hearing the urgency in his voice, Setsuna pushed through the people surrounding her, escaping from them just in time to see a third thief snatch up the fallen slinky thief’s bag with a sticky green extendable hand. The arm thwipped back to its owner who took off in the opposite direction of the hero, pushing down an old lady in his escape.

Setsuna moved to intercept his escape but the man had already turned the corner and escaped from her sight.

“Dammit!” She cursed under her breath, picking up her pace to once again catch sight of the man. A few meters away, Midoriya tended to the fallen older woman. While helping her up, the boy gave Setsuna a look that said he was ready to leap into action even if it meant outing his presence to the public.

Setsuna was about to round the corner when the man she was chasing after fell to the ground in front of her, his arms constricted to his chest by what at first appeared to be a metal hoop encircling his torso. Upon closer inspection, the girl realized what the object restraining the man actually was, an enlarged handcuff that had captured him like a lasso.

Standing at the other end of the elongated chain and with her foot planted on the criminal’s back was none other than Setsuna’s friend and classmate, Yui Kodai, aka Rule. Yui was dressed in her red and white hero costume, her design not having undergone any significant changes over the past year, though it did conceal several shrunken tools that the girl kept on her at all times.

“Oh come on, I totally had that guy!” The green-haired girl whined as she came to a stop.

“Mmm.” Yui simply acknowledged her friend’s presence before lifting the man up to his feet.

“Ow! Take it easy!” The sticky-handed criminal protested as she pulled him up by the chain.

“Ugh.” Setsuna crossed her arms. “Great, now I look bad in front of-”

“Oh hey, you caught the guy.” A relieved voice called out from behind.

Almost instantly, Yui dropped the criminal back onto the floor and directly onto his face. The man let out a muffled cry of pain that went unheard by the hero who had captured him as all of her attention was placed on the man before her. He had removed his cap and sunglasses ‘disguise’ , giving the girls a clear look at his face.

“M-Midoriya.” Yui muttered under her breath.

“Hi Kodai-san, good to see you again. Nice work.” He said, turning his gaze toward the man on the ground.

“Agh, I landed on my face!” The man cried, only to be hushed by a subtle kick to the ribs by Yui.

“T-Thank you.” She replied, even more quietly this time, heat building up in her cheeks.

“Ahem!” Setsuna loudly cleared her throat. “I seem to recall taking down two out of three of the criminals. Where’s my praise, Midori? ” As soon as she spoke, Setsuna felt the cold gaze of death on her, a chill running down her spine. The lizard-like girl didn’t even need to look to know where it was coming from.

It was a well known fact among the girls of Class B that Izuku Midoriya was off limits. Yui Kodai had made that much clear during a sleepover in their first year. Of course, back then none of them had really protested her declaration. To them, Midoriya was just a boy from their rival class with a baby face and a habit of breaking his fingers. None of them had the slightest clue what Yui even saw in him.

Now, looking at the man who stood before them, the same man who had saved the entire country and possibly the world, from utter destruction, the same man who had become obnoxiously hot during his time abroad, Setsuna wanted to kick her past self for not speaking up against Yui’s dibs. Still, Setsuna loved nothing more than to tease her friends, so she couldn’t help but stir up a little trouble.

“O-Oh, sorry about that Tokage. You did excellent work too.” Midoriya awkwardly praised her. “Those attacks you used were amazing!”

“Hear that?” Setsuna’s eyes rolled toward a seething Kodai. “My work was excellent and amazing .”

Yui’s deadpan expression didn’t change in the slightest, however Setsuna could see the shorter girl’s grip tighten around the chain in her hand. The reptilian girl silently thanked god that her classmate didn’t have a telekinesis quirk like Yanagi, otherwise she would have definitely killed Setsuna with her mind by now.

“Please…” The criminal begged from beneath Yui’s boot. “She’s… crushing… me…”

As Inko Midoriya finished typing up a document on her computer, she sat back in her office chair and let out a sigh of relief. She loved what she did, but that didn’t make it easy.

The chaos that the Villain War caused in Japan left a lot of people looking for a change in career. Some lost their livelihood and simply needed to provide for their families, others had near death experiences and decided to finally pursue their dreams, a few were heroes who had given up back during the war when things had gotten too hard.

Inko tried her best not to be too judgemental of that last group.

When those people came into her office looking for guidance, it was her job to help direct them down the path that best suited them. It was by no means glamorous, but it gave Inko a feeling of pride. And whenever one of her clients called to tell her they had landed the job, she got to feel like a hero, if only for a short while.

Closing out of the tab, Inko was confronted by an email that had been sent to her earlier that morning. One that was causing her a great deal of anxiety.

“Inko?” One of the other workers in the office, a nice young woman in her early thirties, poked her head into Inko’s office. “Um, are you busy right now?”

“Hmm?” Inko quickly closed out of her email. “No, I'm not busy. Can I help you with something?”

“N-No, it’s not that. It’s just… um, you have a guest.”

“Oh… all right. S-Send them in.”

The woman nodded before walking away, presumably to let the guest know they were welcome.

‘Izuku?’ Inko thought to herself. ‘No, that can’t be right. We only just saw each other this morning. Then who would-’

“Hey there.” A baritone voice spoke as a familiar figure stepping through the door frame, a bouquet of flowers in hand. “Know any good job positions for a fifty-five year old who can’t operate a copy machine?”

“Tosh- All Might!” Inko’s eyes widened as she unconsciously began wiping all the dust and crumbs off of her desk. “W-What a surprise! P-Please come in! Err and if you wouldn’t mind closing the door behind you?”

The retired hero complied, shutting the door before he walked toward the chair in front of her desk. The former number one had suffered a lot of damage at the hands of All for One, their final encounter crippling Toshinori even worse than he’d been before. His legs were nearly completely destroyed and he had nearly lost one of his arms, however modern medical technology allowed him to continue to walk and operate normally without needing to have the limbs replaced.

When he finally took a seat, Inko finally broke out into panic mode.

“What are you doing here, Toshinori? The press are going to have a field day when they find out! And the flowers- These are lovely by the way, thank you. -What were you thinking?!”

In response, Toshinori simply smiled, setting the bouquet down on her desk before leaning back in his seat.

“It’s alright, Inko. I’ve dealt with the press for years. I know a thing or two about hiding from the press. Suffice to say, you aren’t the only one getting flowers today.” He gestured toward the window. Inko spotted several flower trucks parked in the lot outside and at least a dozen workers helping to deliver them to the office’s employees.

“Your’s is the third office that I’ve visited today.” He further explained. “I figured that the heroes who work outside of the spotlight deserved to know that their work is appreciated too.”

“Toshi, how much did this-”

“Cost isn’t really a concern for me, Inko. I’ll still be earning royalties long after I’m in the ground.” He smiled.

“Toshi…”

“How’s Izuku? I know I only just saw him last night but, how is he? Really?”

“I… He seems fine, why do you ask?” Inko tilted her head curiously.

“I just… I worry about the boy. I see too much of myself in him.” Toshinori stated with a grimace.

“There are certainly worse people he could emulate.”

“You flatter me, Inko. But truthfully, neither of us want the boy to tread the path that I did.” He replied plainly. “I pushed away everyone close to me for the sake of justice… I don’t think I ever truly understood the damage that choice could cause before Shigaraki.”

“Toshinori, with all due respect, my Izuku is not you. I trust him to succeed where you’ve fallen short.” Inko assured him.

“Of course.” He nodded “I never meant to imply-”

“And I trust you Toshinori, I trust your teachings, and I trust you to continue teaching him whenever he might lose his way.”

“Hehehe.” The older man couldn’t help but chuckle.

“What?” Inko scoffed. “What’s so funny?”

“For the longest time, I didn’t understand where Young Izuku got his optimism. He had every reason to think that the world had been unfair to him, that it had cast him aside.” Toshinori explained. “And yet he continued to smile brightly, continued being kind to others even if they didn’t return it. Now, it’s plain as day where he got it from.”

“T-Toshi!” The woman’s cheeks began to burn red for a moment, before a thought struck her and a grimace formed on her face. Noticing the sudden change in her demeanor, Toshinori leaned forward in concern.

“Inko? Is something the matter?”

“N-No, it’s just… I-I don’t know.” Her eyes looked away and she grabbed the hem of her pink sweater.

“Inko, please. If there’s a problem… even if you just need someone to listen-”

“Hisa- *ahem* Izuku’s father has gotten in touch with me.” Inko suddenly blurted out, much to both of their surprise.

“Oh.” All Might’s eyes widened in surprise.

“He wants to see Izuku.”

“...Oh.”

“Sounds like there was a bit of a scene in the food court.” Ochako stated as several mall security guards rushed past them.

Having overheard one of their radios, it sounded like a couple thieves tried to make off with several hundred thousand yen in merchandise. Luckily, some heroes had been nearby and put a stop to it.

“It’s good to know that other heroes have our backs when we aren’t on duty, kero.” Tsuyu stated before turning to her younger sister who, along with her brother and Eri, was enjoying an ice cream that the group had picked up earlier. “Would you like to go meet a hero, Satsuki?”

“But aren’t you a hero, Sis?” The little girl asked.

“Hero-in-training, kero, but heroes can still look up to other heroes. Actually, one of our good friends is a very famous hero, but even he has heroes that he looks up to. In fact, he probably looks up to heroes more than anyone else in the world.”

“Whoa.” The seven year-old’s mouth was agape. “Can I meet him?”

“I’m sure we can arrange that, kero.” Tsuyu said before picking up her sister for a piggyback ride, careful not to spill the girl’s half-eaten pistachio ice cream. “But for now would you like to meet some other pros?”

“Okay!” Satsuki nodded enthusiastically and the two sisters began walking ahead of the pack.

Eri, witnessing the display of affection between the pair, stared back at the melting ice cream cone in her hands, a look of longing on her face. Picking up on the young girl’s feelings, Ochako walked over to Eri before kneeling down in front of her.

“Wanna show those two who’s boss?” She offered, holding out a hand.

A large grin broke out across the horned girl’s face as she rapidly nodded her head, taking Ochako’s hand. With a whirl of speed, the brunette got the smaller girl placed onto her back and began racing to overtake Tsuyu and Satsuki who, upon seeing the challenge, returned it in kind.

Samidare, meanwhile, trailed behind in the rear. Hands in his pockets, absent-mindedly kicking aside a piece of trash, he considered slipping away to find his own source of entertainment before realizing his lack of funds. Begrudgingly, he slowly followed after the girls to go see the heroes as well.

A small crowd had gathered in the time it took the group to find their way to the food court. Looking out over the scene from the third floor, the five spotted the pair of heroes who had stopped the incident. They were currently signing autographs and posing for selfies with anyone who came up to them. Behind them, mall security were escorting the trio of criminals who had been captured and one of the mall custodians gawked in horror at the mess that had been left for him.

“Oh, kero, look at that.” Tsuyu pointed out. “It’s Tokage-san and Kodai-san, from Class B.”

“Kodai?” Ochako looked down at the heroes and spotted the familiar red and white costume. All of a sudden, her expression hardened and her brow furrowed. “Kodai…” She whispered ominously.

From the ground floor, the hero in question suddenly turned her head upward, in an instant her eyes locked onto the brunette above her. Kodai’s eyes narrowed as she sent a cold expression to meet Ochako’s. Her gaze never left the girl even as she finished signing an autograph for a young boy in front of her.

“Umm, Ocha-san?” Eri tapped the top of the older girl’s head.

“Oh! Sorry Eri-chan!” Ochako quickly apologized. “D-Did you still wanna go see the heroes?”

“Umm…” The white-haired girl looked away. “I-I don’t know anymore. One of them looks kinda… scary.” She admitted.

“That’s okay, Eri-chan, if you don’t want to-”

“Y-You looked kinda scary too, Ocha-san.” The girl added quietly, her eyes fixed on the ground.

Ochako’s eyes widened in shock and her jaw dropped as her neck slowly craned to look down at Eri.

“I’m… scary?” The brunette whispered in shock, pointing to herself.

“I-I-I… I didn’t mean…” Eri began waving her hands frantically, trying to form an apology.

“I’m so sorry Eri-chan!” Ochako prostrated before the girl, her forehead placed firmly into the ground. “Please forgive me!”

“Ochako please,” Tsuyu looked around at the people staring at them. “You’re making a scene.”

“It’s okay Ocha-san, I-I didn’t mean it! You’re not scary, you’re nice, a-and I love you!” Eri quickly tried to reassure the older girl. “S-So please stand up!” She added nervously.

“Eri-chan…” Ochako sat up on her knees, wiping the wetness from her eyes. “You’re too precious for this world!” She exclaimed, pulling the girl to her chest.

Eri hesitantly reciprocated the hug, resting her chin on her big sister’s shoulder. She still wasn’t entirely accustomed to physical affection. Aizawa was a great father to the young girl and Eri loved him dearly, but he was a bit awkward and unsure of himself when it came to comforting others.

“I-It’s okay, Ocha-san. You don’t have to-” The eight year-old suddenly cut off as someone on the ground floor caught her eye. “Mr. Deku?!”

“Huh?!” Ochako’s head whirled around to where Eri was pointing.

The crowd below had dispersed by now, leaving the two female heroes and a third male figure standing together, chatting amicably. The third figure was taller than the other two and his face was harder to make out given the cap he was wearing, but when he turned his head, Ochako saw several unmistakable messy green curls of hair beneath it.

“Deku?” Ochako raised an eyebrow.

What was he doing here?

Watching from above, Ochako saw Izuku whip out one of his hero notebooks that he always seemed to have hidden on his person and begin jotting things down as he spoke avidly with Yui Kodai. The ravenette in question took the opportunity to close the distance between them, subtly leaning her chest against his arm as she showed him one of her costume’s support items.

“Kodai…”

“-so the extra mass doesn’t actually weigh me down.” Yui finished explaining as she lowered her arm, making sure to brush up against Midoriya’s muscular arm once more as she pulled away.

If the boy noticed her flirting method, he didn’t show it, instead he simply opted to continue writing down notes on the information she had given him. He had already managed to fill up an entire page with information despite the fact that she had easily spoken less than fifty words to him.

“Amazing!” He grinned widely. “Your quirk is so much more versatile than it first appears on the surface! Great for both rescue and combat!”

“Mmm.” Yui simply nodded, a slight frown forming on her typically unreadable face. She had heard in passing gossip that the green-haired boy was easily flustered, but it seemed like that general anxiety he kept about him diminished while he was obsessing over his hobby.

“Y’know, it’s pretty interesting. Your quirk actually reminds me a lot of Uraraka from my class.”

“That’s because we’re cousins.” A voice spoke from behind Yui.

Yui didn’t need to turn around to know who had spoken, she had just seen the brunette only minutes earlier on the balcony above. Sighing to herself, she turned to face her cousin with a cold glare.

“Uraraka.”

“Kodai.”

The pair stared down one another with matching glares, the intensity of which could be felt by everybody present.

Despite their bloodline connection, both girls opted to refer to each other by respective family names. They had never really been close growing up, despite their parents’ best efforts. They really only saw one another at family gatherings and even then rarely spoke.

When Yui’s parents found out that her cousin had gotten into the U.A. Hero course as well, they had tried once more to unite the girls, even suggesting that the two share an apartment near campus.

It hadn’t panned out.

“Cousins?” Midoriya said in surprise, looking between the two girls before suddenly pausing. “...Wait, Uraraka?!”

“Hi Deku-san!” A small girl with white hair and a horn on her head leaned out from behind Uraraka.

“Eri?!”

“Deku,” Uraraka greeted, her tone somewhat eerie. “What brings you here?”

Midoriya paused for a moment, evidently needing a moment to remember why he’d come to the shopping ward in the first place.

“Oh! I-uh, I’m just here to pick up some new clothes. Y’know, growth spurt and all that.” He answered, gesturing toward himself.

“Same!” The girl, Eri, smiled gleefully. “We can shop together!”

“I’m not sure you two are quite the same size.” Tokage laughed, approaching the smaller girl, crouching down before her. “Hi there, I’m Lizardy! But you can call me Set if you like.” She introduced herself with a sharp toothed grin.

“Hello.” Eri replied shyly, bowing forward. “I-It’s nice to meet you, honored hero, my name is Eri. Thank you for your service.” She said artificially, as though she were reciting from a script.

“Awww, you’re so precious!” The lizard-like girl cooed.

“Um, th-thank you.” The small girl nodded with a blush.

“There’s a children’s clothing store a hundred meters west of here.” Yui stated as she moved to stand next to Midoriya. “There’s also a large playground less than eighty meters away from it that is popular with children ages six to eleven.”

“O-Oh…” Eri replied, seemingly more perturbed than excited. Maybe it had been Yui’s flat delivery of the information. Maybe the girl was still socially anxious, unsurprising given what she had heard of her past.

“As for men’s clothing, there’s a store on the second floor south of here.” Yui grabbed Midoriya’s arm and held it between her breasts. “I’ll guide you.”

Midoriya’s face resembled a tomato and his eyes looked ready to pop out of his skull. Across from him, Uraraka gaze shot from Yui to Midoriya, then their arms, then back to Yui. She didn’t say anything, but Yui could practically hear the gears in her head turning. At her side, little Eri simply looked confused. Kneeling beside Eri, Tokage cleared her throat.

“Um, Rule ,” She spoke up, addressing Yui by her codename. “If I recall, patrolling the south side of the mall was my job.”

“If I recall, you said that the south side of the mall was ‘boring’ and ‘lame’ and you wanted to ‘do swapsies’ with me.” Yui deadpanned with air quotes. “I’m simply complying with your wishes.”

“Well that’s…” Tokage looked like she wanted to say something more, only to huff in disappointment.

“Come Midoriya, I’ll show you there.” Yui dragged the larger boy along, everyone present staring at her with a shocked expression, Midoriya especially.

“I uh…” He tried to speak but was too flustered by the embrace. “I-I’ll try to catch up to you later Urarak-AH!” The boy yelped as Yui pulled him around a corner.

“...”

“...”

“...Wow.” Tokage said simply as the two disappeared from sight. “Now that’s a girl who knows what she wants.”

“Big sis Uraraka!” A small girl’s voice suddenly caught everyone’s attention.

A small girl with black pigtails and a slightly taller boy ran straight toward the brunette, panic in their eyes. The girl had her hand wrapped up in what looked to be a paper towel and tear stains ran down her cheeks.

“Satsuki? Samidare?” Uraraka looked at the two with concern. “What are you-” She suddenly cut off, looking around for another figure who appeared to be missing.

“Where’s Tsu?”

A few minutes earlier, Tsuyu had stood alongside her brother and sister, observing the interaction going on just ahead of them.

“Sis?” Satsuki looked up at her big sister curiously. “Aren’t we going to go meet the heroes?”

The trio of siblings weren’t too far behind Ochako and Eri, however Tsuyu had stopped in her tracks when she recognized Midoriya standing alongside the heroes. It now made perfect sense why Ochako had taken off so suddenly with Eri. They were just out of earshot, so they couldn’t hear what anyone was saying, but even as far away as she was, the rainy season hero could practically feel the intense aura Ochako was letting off.

Watching Izuku interact with the other girls had given Tsu pause, unsure of whether or not to step in and say something. She still hadn’t spoken to the boy since he had arrived back at U.A., not because she didn’t want to, but…

“C’mon Sis! I wanna see-” Satsuki grabbed her sister by the hand before suddenly crying out. “OWW!” The girl reeled back, clutching her wrist in pain. Falling to her knees, tears welled up in the seven year-old’s eyes.

“Satsuki!” Samidare ran to his sister’s side.

She was crying now, the skin on the palm of her hand was red and already beginning to swell, much to her siblings’ horror. Looking down at her own hands, Tsuyu stared in horror as she saw the now all too familiar spots of dark blue staining her hands and arms like inkblots.

“Samidare!” Tsuyu turned to her brother, her hands shaking. “Take Satsuki to the bathroom right now and wash her hands. Thoroughly. Don’t let her touch anything on the way, especially her face. After that, go to Uraraka and have her guide you to a first-aid station. Can you do that?”

The boy looked overwhelmed as his eyes flickered between his sisters.

“Can you do that?!” Tsuyu repeated louder.

“Y-Yes!” Samidare nodded.

“Go.” She ordered, watching the boy quickly take off toward the restrooms.

It worried Tsuyu to leave her siblings alone in such a large public area, but right now she posed a greater danger to her siblings than anyone else. Looking around frantically, the frog-like girl spotted an empty nook between shops and quickly took refuge inside.

Staring at her hands in horror, the girl gulped before rolling up the sleeves of her sweater to witness the extent of the damage. The dozens of ink-like blots continued down her forearms, stopping just below the elbow.

“They’re spreading even further now,” Tsuyu observed, taking a shaky breath. “No…”

She watched in terror as new toxic splotches began to pool beneath her skin right before her eyes. It was a disgusting process, but one that Tsuyu couldn’t exert any control over.

“Come on! ” Tsuyu demanded, clenching her fists in anger. “Turn off. Turn! Off!”

The frog girl tried everything she could think of, attempting desperately to turn off this accursed ability. She stood there for what felt like hours to no avail. Her breathing was heavy and sweat dripped down her face. Unable to do… anything , she simply stared in horror at the toxins brewing beneath her skin.

“Tsu?” Ochako’s worried voice caused the girl to flinch.

“O-Ochako!” Tsuyu whirled around too fast, falling onto her butt. “Stay back! Don’t touch me!” She begged, attempting to push herself away from her friend and into a corner.

“Tsu, what’s going on? Your brother and sister came to me crying!” Ochako took a step toward Tsuyu, but the frog girl stopped her.

“Don’t! You’ll get hurt!” She cried out, now in the fetal position.

“What’s wrong Tsu? You’re scaring me.”

“Just… Just keep your distance. Please Ochako.”

Ochako looked hesitant, but nodded before crouching down and sitting against the wall across from Tsuyu. The frog girl relaxed slightly, resting her head against the wall behind her and focusing on slowing her breathing. As she did so, the dark spots dotting her arm gradually began to recede somewhat, sinking back beneath her skin.

They sat in silence for over a minute, Ochako respecting that her friend needed a moment to gather herself. That being said, she clearly wouldn’t leave without an answer regarding what had happened. She was a hero after all, and they had something of a habit of meddling where they didn’t need to.

“Are Satsuki and Samidare okay?” Tsuyu finally broke the silence.

“They’re fine, I left Eri and them with Tokage. It seemed to me like they were more worried for you though.” Ochako moved in closer to Tsuyu as she spoke, but when the girl looked up at her with tears in her eyes, the brunette stopped in place, taking a seat against the wall across from Tsuyu.

“I… *sniff* I…”

“Tsu…” Even as Ochako spoke, she felt her own lip beginning to quiver. It hurt to see her best friend like this. “If it’s too difficult, you don’t have to, but I would really appreciate it if you told me what was going on.”

“...”

“...”

“...Okay.” Tsuyu relented, taking a deep breath. “Last year, when we were fighting the PLF, you experienced a…a change in your quirk. You were near death and it became stronger than ever. Something happened with it you didn’t even think was possible.”

“I remember.” Ochako nodded, gesturing for her to continue.

“Well, the same happened to me.” Tsuyu admitted showing her friend her arm as the remaining blue spots dotting her hands. “I didn’t notice it at first, but my skin started to become poisonous to the touch. Initially, it only appeared when my heartbeat crossed a certain threshold, but over time the past year that threshold has been… dropping , making the episodes more frequent. And they’re spreading, taking up more and more of my body as time goes on.”

Ochako held a hand over her mouth, attempting to mask her shock.

“Pretty soon,” Tsuyu continued, now staring at her own hands. “I’m… I’m afraid that they’ll take me over entirely.”

She let Ochako take a moment to digest the information she had just shared. Tsu herself had had too much time to understand the gravity of that statement. Never being touched again. Never feeling the embrace of another. Never knowing true intimacy.

The thought made her stomach drop.

“Tsu…” Ochako looked like she wanted to try to say something to comfort the girl.

“It's… fine , Ochako.” She lied to spare the girl’s feelings. “I’ve kept it under control this long, haven’t I? I had my hero suit and gloves reinforced to prevent any tears in them, so I can still do hero work. That’s what’s important.”

Seeing the blots had fully disappeared, Tsuyu lifted herself up from the floor, brushing the dirt off of her jeans.

“We should go back now, kero. Satsuki and Sami will be worried if we’re gone for too long.”

“No.” Ochako said firmly, moving to block her friend’s path. “We’re not ending our conversation like this. I won’t accept this.”

“‘Chako, I appreciate the sentiment, but there’s nothing to be done.” Tsuyu shook her head, pulling down the sleeves of her sweater as far as they could cover her. “I’ve spoken with numerous doctors regarding just that. It isn’t a sickness to be cured. It's a part of me, a biological function of my body. I can’t stop it from happening any more than I can stop my blood from pumping or my hair from growing.”

“Please…”

Tsu simply stared at the ground, not daring to meet Ochako’s eyes.

“... I’d like to go home now, Ochako.” She spoke softly. “I’ll see you at school.”

“No.”

“Really? I thought this one looked-”

“ No. ”

“Alright, alright.” Izuku slumped his head forward in defeat, walking back into the changing room.

Kodai had brought him to a men’s clothing store, sure enough, and had left him by himself while she left to finish her patrol, not saying a word. Izuku had figured that was the end of their interaction and went about selecting a number of shorts, pants, and t-shirts to replace his old wardrobe. Much to his surprise, when he stepped out of his third store for the day, bags in hand, he had run into Kodai again, now dressed in civilian clothing.

The ravenette certainly knew a thing or two more about fashion than Izuku, her smart yet casual outfit had more than a few passersby look her way. A white sweater accompanied by a plaid skirt and black jeans overlayed by stylish brown boots, she looked like a model pulled directly out of an autumn catalog.

“Hey again, K-Kodai.” He had greeted sheepishly. “Thanks again for helping me find the-oh?”

He was cut off as the girl had immediately begun rummaging through the bags he was carrying, pulling out the various items of apparel he had purchased, examining them with an unreadable expression before stuffing them back into their respective bags. A few of them she kept, tucking them beneath her arm before resuming her search. This had gone on for several minutes with Izuku simply standing there, unsure of what to do or say in this situation. Everyone around them probably just assumed she was an overly-doting girlfriend making sure he didn’t buy something without her permission.

That might not have been too much of a stretch of the truth.

She ended up searching through all of his items, much to the boy’s embarrassment. He had bought underwear in there! And by the time she had finished his search, had about eight or nine of his things tucked under her arm.

“These stay.” Kodai stated simply, patting the clothes she had picked from the bunch. “These go back.” She pointed to the remainder of the items in the bag, easily eighty percent of what he had bought.

“Pardon?” Izuku looked at her with genuine confusion.

“Keep.” She patted the clothes again before pointing to the bags. “Return.”

“You… You want me to return these?” He held up the bags in his hands. “ All of these?”

Kodai nodded.

“But I just bought them.”

“No good.” She shook her head.

“But-”

“Come.” Kodai grabbed his hand and dragged him back into the store.

And that was more or less how they ended up here, back at the first store Izuku had visited. He had chosen several new outfits to try out and Kodai would judge whether or not the clothes would be ‘worthy of him.’ Her words.

Yui Kodai was a strange girl, Izuku decided, she was definitely unlike anybody he’d met before. She had her own way of doing things and he supposed that she was helping him, albeit a bit forcefully. The whole experience was just a bit awkward for him given that Kodai seemingly held no concept of boundaries.

“Alright,” He said to himself, stripping out of the latest rejected shirt. “Let’s try this gray long sleeve with the khakis and-”

“Here.”

“AH!” Izuku jumped in surprise.

Kodai had poked her head through the changing room curtain to hand Izuku another shirt she had picked out, staring directly at the boy’s bare chest. Her neutral expression shifted slightly as she examined him, his physique, his scars. Though what was going through her mind, he couldn’t tell.

“K-Kodai! You can’t be here!” He cried out.

“Mmm.” She simply nodded, not even bothering to look up at his face.

“Sir?” A woman’s voice called out from nearby.

Panicked and without thinking, Izuku pulled Kodai the rest of the way through the curtain and into the changing room with him. Between the two of them and the pile of clothes laid out, the space was fairly cramped and the shorter girl ended up with her head pressed against Izuku’s chest. Shutting the curtains behind her, Izuku tried to calm his racing heart as he heard the attendant’s footsteps approaching.

“Is everything alright sir?” The woman’s voice asked from just outside, clearly a store employee.

“Y-Yeah!” Izuku assured her. “Sorry about that, I was… on a phone call.” His gaze flickered over to a sign above the door that read “ONE OCCUPANT AT A TIME.” in large writing.

Normally, a person would only get a slap on the wrist for breaking store policy, at worst they might be escorted out of the mall by security. However, Izuku was no longer a normal person in the public’s eye. If he were to be recognized here, half-naked in the changing room with a pretty girl, there would be a hundred slanderous articles about him online before he could even make it home. The damage it would do to his reputation, not to mention Kodai’s, would be immense.

Just below his head, Kodai seemed to have taken advantage of the situation and was exploring his body with her hands. The cold sensation of her fingers trailing down his back and sides nearly cost the boy his composure. Taking a deep breath in, Izuku unintentionally inhaled the scent of the ravenette’s hair. She smelled like vanilla and citrus.

“... Alright then.” The employee said in a skeptical tone. “Is there anything I can help you with, sir?”

“N-Nope! All good here! Just… y’know… cl oth es.” Izuku’s voice cracked as one of Kodai’s hands traced his abdominals.

“Okaaay. I’ll leave you alone now, sir. Good luck with your… clothes. ” She said before moving to leave, the clacking of her heels moving further and further away.

When he was certain she was gone, Izuku let out a large sigh of relief before grabbing his fellow hero-in-training by the shoulders and removing her from his chest.

“K-Kodai!” He whispered aggressively. “What the hell was that? Why were you… Kodai?”

The girl in question was unresponsive, her gaze transfixed on Izuku’s right arm where a large number of his scars lay. More specifically however, she seemed almost entirely focused on his right wrist, where a vertical scar traced up to his forearm.

Turning up to face him, her neutral expression had disappeared, replaced with one of worry and sadness. She opened her mouth to say something, but quickly closed it and looked back down at his arm.

“That… It’s not what you think it is.” Izuku assured her, his tone much calmer now. “I had a joint resection, it’s a surgical scar. See? There’s a matching one on the left.” He held up his other arm to reveal another scar just like the first.

When Kodai didn’t respond, he decided to elaborate.

“Too many Detroit Smashes kind of… wreaked havoc on my wrists. My range of motion became extremely limited and I was losing sleep because of the pain at night, so one of the assistants on my tour recommended that I get the surgery.” He explained while flexing his fingers. “So, I guess you could say I’ve had a little work done.”

She didn’t laugh at his joke but some of the tension seemed to leave her shoulders. When she turned his arm over to examine the back of his hand, Kodai looked back at him as though to ask for consent to continue. The curious, innocent look in her eyes reminded him so much of Eri that he couldn’t help but wordlessly nod, allowing her to continue her exploration of him.

They stood in silence for what felt like hours to Izuku, her running her impossibly cold fingers ( Seriously, was this girl a Todoroki? ) along his hand, and him standing completely still, trying not to be a creep by smelling her hair again.

It was through this interaction that Izuku felt he learned more about Yui Kodai than ever. She was a naturally curious girl, curious about people and curious about the world around her. But rather than bombarding others with questions like one Nejire Hado, Kodai was a tactile learner, preferring a more hands-on approach.

“...Do they hurt?” She finally spoke as her hands finally left his.

“No. Well, not nearly as much as they used to.” Izuku replied, slowly pulling his arm back. “They’re more like… tender, I guess? Scar tissue is more sensitive than normal skin, so certain sensations are a bit more um, intense .”

As he spoke, the taller boy slipped back on the original shirt he’d come in wearing. Kodai seemed a bit disappointed with that, but even more so, she seemed intrigued by Izuku’s words. Almost as though a few ideas were forming in her mind.

“Um, t-thanks for your help today Kodai. But it's about time I started heading home now.” Izuku said awkwardly as he continued to dress himself in front of a girl. Pulling on his hat and jacket, he grabbed the remaining clothes in the room before turning back to the girl.

“I’ll step out and make sure that the coast is clear, you follow out a few seconds after I signal you. Does that sound good?” Izuku asked before realizing how all of this sounded. ‘It feels like I’m trying to hide an extramarital affair!’ He thought to himself panickedly.

“...Midoriya?” Kodai spoke up.

He turned to her just before he could leave the changing room. She was turned away from him, however from where he was standing, Izuku could see her porcelain face reflected in the mirror in front of her.

“Y-Yeah?” He asked.

“Thank you.” She stated in monotone. “I had fun.”

And while in that moment, it could have possibly been a trick of the light, or his imagination going into overdrive, Izuku could’ve sworn that he saw Yui Kodai smile for the first time.

“So we’re just not going to talk about that?” Nana Shimura’s pink vestige materialized next to Izuku as he walked back to his apartment building.

“Talk about what?” He asked innocently.

“Izuku, that girl clearly likes you.” One for All’s seventh user furrowed her brow and crossed her arms, moving to block the ninth’s path. Given that she was essentially a ghost, Izuku could obviously pass right through her, but instead he stopped in place, making sure no one was around.

The sun had just gone down and the streets were practically empty save for the occasional passerby, but no one was close enough to hear the boy or see through his disguise so he wasn’t too worried about being called out. Setting down his shopping bags, he let out a sigh.

“I know you’re smart, Izuku. And more importantly, I know you aren’t so dense that you couldn’t tell she was flirting, albeit in her own weird way.” She stated plainly before raising an eyebrow. “So what’s going on?”

“Wh-” Izuku tried to speak but was cut off.

“Nana, it’s hardly our place to intervene in Midoriya’s personal life. He can make his own decisions regarding his chosen partner or lack thereof.” En’s violet vestige appeared nearby, sitting cross legged on top of a mailbox to Izuku’s right.

“Ain’t it obvious?” Daigoro Banjo’s orange vestige stood next to Shimura’s. “He’s already committed to the gravity girl from his class.”

A shiver ran down Izuku’s spine. Had the others seen his dream last night? Nana hadn’t made any mention of seeing it, but none of them had outright stated that they couldn’t peek into his mind when they pleased. Banjo himself had assured Izuku that the vestiges would give him his privacy, but that didn’t mean all that much from easily the least trusty voice in his head.

“And you!” Banjo pointed to Izuku with a beefy finger. “A real man doesn’t go around seeing other girls behind his first girl’s back! You should be ashamed of yourself! Call up Ura-whatsername right now and beg her for forgiveness!”

“It’s Uraraka.” Nana facepalmed and shook her head. “Look, I’m not saying he has to marry this Kodai girl, or even go on a date with her.” Nana contested, turning to Banjo. “But if a girl shows her feelings for a boy, it's that boy’s responsibility to respond to those feelings, regardless if it’s a yes or a no.”

“I think Midoriya handled the situation rather well.” A tall green vestige placed his hand on Izuku’s shoulder.

Hikage Shinomori, One for All’s fourth user, stepped up in Izuku’s defense. This was rather odd as he was one of the less vocal voices among the vestiges. Shimura, Banjo, and En were by far the ones he communicated with the most. The rest tended only to advise him when he practiced their quirks or had a question for them.

“You don’t get a say in this, ya big hermit!” Banjo pointed at the larger man. “If we need advice on chopping wood or birdwatching, we’ll call you. Otherwise stay in your lane, bub!”

“Guys I-”

“Like you know any better!” The seventh user said to the fifth. “I had a child! Have you ever even spoken to a woman who wasn’t trapped with you in a teenage boy’s head?” She then turned to Izuku. “N-Not that we feel trapped or anything, sweetie. It's actually fairly roomy here-err I mean uh…”

“Ladies and gentlemen, the leading authority on relationships.” En clapped sarcastically.

“Everyone, please-”

“Say what you will, but Izuku needs to call that girl-”

“No! What he needs to do is-”

“I say he should talk to-”

“GUYS!” Izuku yelled out, grabbing the attention of the vestiges who stared at him in surprise. “Sorry, I just… Can I have a moment to talk?”

“Our apologies.” En bowed his head. “Please, go on.”

“T-Thank you, En and um everyone else.” Izuku bowed his head in gratitude. “Look I understand that you all just want to help me. A-And Nana? You were right. I’m not that dense. I gathered that Kodai likes me… probably. But look I… can I just take some time? I just got back to Japan like five minutes ago and already everything is so different and-and weird and… I’m operating on next to no sleep. I don’t know how I feel about Kodai, or-or Uraraka, or anyone, or any of this!” He raised his hands in exasperation.

“So can I please just have some time to think? To unpack? To pretend like things are normal? Pretend that I’m normal for even a second?!”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“I’m sorry you guys, I didn’t mean to blow up at you all like that. None of this is your fault and-”

“No Izuku, you’re right.” Nana finally spoke, placing her hands on Izuku’s shoulders as she met his gaze. “I don’t think any of us have truly appreciated how difficult this must be for you. You’ve had to work incredibly hard and overcome immense hurdles to reach this point.”

“Don’t let a bunch’a old farts like us get in your way kid.” Banjo added. “We had our turns to live, love, and make our own mistakes, seems only fair that you get yours.”

“We are simply echoes of a bygone era, lingering on well past our expiration, seeking new purpose.” Shinomori said. “Please know that your happiness and wellbeing is our top priority.”

“And if we overstep our boundaries, don’t feel bad about putting us back in line.” En finished. “We are your quirk after all.”

“You guys…” Izuku teared up at the vestiges' words. “You know you’re all more than that to me, you’re my family . All of you. I can’t… I can’t do any of this without you.”

“Sweetheart, if you start crying then I’m gonna cry.” Nana said with a trembling smile, running a spectral finger across Izuku’s cheek. Wiping the wetness from her eyes, she turned to the other users present. “Alright you old farts, let's give our boy some room. He needs a rest and, let’s be honest, a cold shower after the day he’s had.”

The other vestiges muttered in agreement before each disappearing into wisps, leaving Nana and Izuku standing alone.

“But you know that if you need us, if you need anything. We’ll be right there for you. Right?” She asked the boy.

“I know.” He nodded, picking up his things from the ground. “Thank you Nana, for everything. I… I promise I’ll find some way to repay you all for all that you do for me.”

“Don’t worry about us kiddo. You need to start thinking more about you.” She poked his chest playfully. “And maybe a bit about which poor girl’s heart you’re gonna break. Have fu~n!”

With that, Nana disappeared, leaving Izuku standing alone in the street. Relaxing the tension in his shoulders, the boy shook his head and let out a long breath. Suddenly it felt like his tiredness was catching back up with him all at once. He was sluggish and uncoordinated, and the bags under his arms felt incredibly heavy.

He arrived back at the apartment not long after, fumbling around for his keys in his pocket for a moment, only to find that the door was unlocked and slightly ajar. Curious and more than a little alarmed, Izuku braced himself for what may be waiting for him. He would have prepared a Delaware Smash in his hand, but last night’s fiasco still lingered in his mind.

Clenching his fist anyway, Izuku pushed through the door and entered his home, only to be surprised by the sound of laughter and the smell of… candles?

“Oh my… Oh my! T-Toshi, where did you learn-oh!” Inko’s voice cried out.

“There’s plenty that I’ve picked up on over the years, if you’d like, I could show you a whole lot more.”

Izuku, mouth agape, stepped into his living room to find a truly shocking sight. Inko Midoriya was laid out on their living room couch, her usual pink sweater rolled up to expose her back and Toshinori Yagi, the country’s former number one hero and Izuku’s personal mentor, sitting beside her with his hands on her back.

All Might was giving his mom a very thorough massage.

Dropping his bags with an audible thud, the two adults turned to the boy with equally shocked expressions.

“Izuku! I-I didn’t think--”

“Young Midoriya, this isn’t-”

He didn’t hear their explanations though, rather his line of sight was beginning to shift downward all of the sudden as his vision blurred.

When did the floor get there?

*THUMP!*

“Izuku!”

Chapter 3: There Is a Light That Never Goes Out

Chapter Text

Move-in day. The day signifying the end of Hitomi’s peace and quiet.

The lavender-haired girl groggily sat up in her bed, rubbing the gunk out of her eyes as she let out a groan. Sitting still for a long moment, her eyelids heavy, she contemplated simply lying back down and sleeping in until tomorrow.

*Groooowl!*

It seemed that her stomach had other plans.

Tossing her covers aside, Hitomi slowly dragged herself out of bed and toward her dresser. Standing before her mirror, the girl could see her long hair standing straight up on her head. She had no idea why it seemed to naturally defy gravity, but regardless, she grabbed a hair tie from off her dresser and fixed her rebellious locks into a messy bun.

Not bothering to change out of her oversized white shirt and purple boxer shorts, the seventeen year-old put on a pair of cat slippers and walked down the stairs, making a bee-line for the refrigerator. Still half awake, she leaned into the fridge, feeling the cool air on her face while she looked over her choices. Most of it was just leftovers from the party, not really ideal for breakfast.

“Mmm… Cold pizza.” Hitomi decided, grabbing a slice out of the box and immediately placing it in her mouth. Searching through the rest of the fridge while she absentmindedly chewed her pizza, Hitomi didn’t find anything that particularly stood out to her. Shutting the door, she moved to head back upstairs and begin preparing for the day. She still had a few hours before the other Class 3-A students began arriving, so she could probably-

“Good morning!” A cheery voice greeted her.

Izuku Midoriya stood in the common room, suitcase in hand, dressed in a tight blue t-shirt and sporty black shorts with his now signature red shoes on his feet. He was wearing his usual compression sleeve over his right arm, only now it was longer, reaching down to his wrist. He also had one for his left arm and right leg as well. If he didn’t have his luggage with him, Hitomi would’ve thought he’d just gotten back from a jog.

Standing next to the boy was Hitomi’s mentor and pseudo father figure, Shota Aizawa, dressed in his yellow sleeping bag with built-in sleeves for the arms and legs. He looked ridiculous, but comfy. Standing next to him was the man’s foster daughter, Eri, dressed in a matching red sleeping bag and looking much cuter than her father. It seemed as though Midoriya had been discussing something with their instructor before Hitomi had entered the kitchen.

“Oh, Hitomi. Good.” Aizawa greeted her as she reached the bottom of the steps. “Midoriya is going to need a tour of the campus and seeing as how you know it well enough by now, you’ll be giving it to him. Unless you had other plans for the day?”

Hitomi’s breakfast landed on the kitchen floor with an audible *plap* sound, smearing tomato sauce onto the tile floor.

“Um, I think you dropped your-” The boy didn’t get to finish his sentence however as Hitomi quickly shot up the stairs and away from sight, back to the safety of her room.

Slamming the door behind her, Hitomi was breathing heavily as she let go of the knob. Glancing at herself again in the mirror, the girl looked herself over, cringing at her appearance. Raking a hand across her dull purple locks she gritted her teeth in frustration. She looked like a human disaster!

Grabbing a towel from off her desk chair, she sprinted out her bedroom door straight to the showers. Frantically cleaning every inch of her body, she used double her usual shampoo and conditioner in a desperate bid to combat her villainous bedhead. Rushing out of the shower, Hitomi slipped and fell directly on her ass before picking herself up and running back to her room, applying makeup and eyeshadow as fast as humanly possible.

Holding up a flannel shirt, she gave it a quick sniff test before deciding that it was passable and quickly threw it and a pair of skinny jeans on, realizing halfway through dressing herself that in her rush, she’d forgotten to put on underwear first. A few minutes and several more dumb mistakes later, Hitomi hobbled down the stairs as she slipped on her black sneakers.

“You’re back.” Aizawa noted, now standing in front of the kitchen stove, his sleeping bag cocoon having been shed revealing his black shirt and pajama bottoms beneath. Eri was sitting on one of the stools, her head resting on the counter, presumably asleep again. The young girl had picked up on several of her foster father’s mannerisms, but thankfully had other positive influences surrounding her, so she didn’t turn out exactly like the dreary man.

Aizawa was cooking breakfast, presumably for Eri if the nearby toast shaped like a cartoon bear was anything to go by. However, Midoriya was nowhere to be seen, not in the kitchen, not in the common room. His luggage on the other hand, was left directly next to the front door where he’d been standing as though he’d been abducted from the spot. Curiously, there was other luggage next to his; one suitcase was sky-blue and covered in glitter and stickers of rainbows and unicorns, the other was leopard print with the word ‘JUICY’ written in neon pink across the front. Just looking at them gave Hitomi a bad feeling in her gut.

“Uh yeah…” The girl turned toward her teacher before moving to sit at the counter. Next to her, Eri began to stir. Opening her eyes slowly, the younger girl smiled at Hitomi before letting out a yawn.

“G’mornin, *yawn* Big sis ‘Tomi.” Eri greeted her sleepily.

Smiling softly, Hitomi placed her hand on the smaller girl’s head, giving her one of the headpats she loved receiving from her ‘big siblings’ otherwise known as every member of Class A.

“You sure got up quickly.” Class A’s resident dad spoke up, placing Eri’s plate in front of her. “I was half expecting not to see you again until Monday morning.”

Hitomi ran a hand through her long hair, now thoroughly brushed and coifed, it reached down to her middle back.

“Well… I just kinda figured I’d make a good impression on the first years.” She replied casually, not trying to give herself away. “Now that we actually have underclassmen, I should probably try to set an example, especially for the Gen Eds, y’know?”

That was true to some degree. U.A. was about to get its first round of first years since Hitomi had entered the hero academy. Due to the heavy damage caused in the war, U.A. had been under repairs for nearly the entirety of her second year. Between the constant need for pro heroes during Japan’s still ongoing recovery period and the nonexistent classrooms to teach in, U.A. could barely handle the students that they had, much less add more on to that. Thus, for the first time since its founding, U.A. didn’t have a second year class.

“Sure.” Aizawa nodded in agreement, though he appeared skeptical.

“So um,” Hitomi attempted to mask her nerves as she looked around the room. Ever-so-subtly changing the conversation’s course, she spoke again. “Where’s Midoriya? Checking out his room?”

“Ashido and Hagakure arrived shortly after you left. They decided to give Midoriya the tour themselves.”

“What?!” Hitomi bolted up from her seat, slamming her hands on the counter. Next to her, Eri flinched at the sudden noise. “You didn’t stop them?!” Aizawa looked at her befuddled, unsure of what he had done wrong, so Hitomi continued. “You asked me to show him around, didn't you? Hell, you told me to!”

“And then you ran off without saying anything. What was I supposed to glean from that?”

“Gah!” The girl threw her hands up in frustration.

That was twice now that she had made a fool of herself in front of the Midoriya family and ran away. No doubt by now, Ms. Midoriya had told her son about what had happened at the party, so Hitomi could only imagine what the boy thought of her now. And now, unable to explain herself to the boy she’d found herself hopelessly pining after, she would continue to look the fool.

“You’re the worst!” She yelled at the older man before her, storming off without another word.

“...”

“...”

“Eri, what just happened?”

“Come on Midori! We’ve got a ton of ground to cover, so hurry up!” Mina Ashido attempted to drag the boy by the arm, but found herself struggling to move him. “This, ugh! This used to be a lot easier when you weren’t huge! Geez! I can’t even get my hand around your stupidly thick wrist!”

The alien girl was wearing a black and pink shirt along with a pair of daisy dukes that showed off her greatest… asset . (At most schools, she likely would have broken a dress code, but U.A. had let Midnight work there in costume , so their tolerance was pretty high.) On her right wrist, she wore an ungodly amount of bracelets from colorful beads to simple leather straps, and on her feet she had a pair of well-worn blue hightops.

“Um, Mina?” Tooru Hagakure spoke up shyly, raising an invisible hand to stop her friend. “Maybe just let him walk on his own?”

The transparent girl had opted to dress more conservatively than her flamboyant best friend, she more or less had to if she wanted anyone to keep track of her. Wearing a light blue sweater and long white skirt, she had on a pair of tall black socks beneath white sneakers. At her side she had a small satchel that doubled as a stuffed animal and on her head she wore a black headband with a small bow.

“Ugh, fine! ” The pink girl relented, releasing her grip on Midoriya’s arm. “If you wanna take all the fun out of it, then fine!”

Turning to look up at the taller boy, Tooru saw the greenette smile at her appreciatively, causing the girl to suddenly avert her gaze to hide her blush despite the fact that he couldn’t actually see her expression or her face in general for that matter.

“W-We, um…We should start with the animal rescue center, shouldn’t we? It’s the closest and everything else is probably still closed this early in the morning.” Tooru suggested, to which the other two nodded.

“Yeah, I’ve been wanting to check that out since I heard about it!” Midoriya exclaimed. “I heard that U.A.’s been doing some really cool things while I’ve been gone!”

“Oh you’re gonna love it, Midori.” Mina assured him. “There’s the cutest puppy ever in there, you will literally die. Every time I see him I just wanna squarsh his little face.” The girl pantomimed holding a small animal, squishing its imaginary face.

“Well if I’ll ‘literally die’, then how can I pass that up?” The boy shot her a playful grin.

“Cute.” Tooru whispered under her breath.

“Pardon?” Midoriya turned to the girl curiously.

“Oh! Uh, I just said that the puppy is really cute.” She quickly lied, regaining her composure.

“Well, you are the authority on cute things if I recall.” He said jokingly, only causing the girl’s blush to deepen. For a brief moment, her silhouette almost appeared to glow. However, before Midoriya could ask the girl about it, he was caught by surprise as a sudden weight landed on his back.

“Onwards Midoriya!” Mina called out as she adjusted herself on the larger boy’s back for a piggyback ride.

“Ashido!” Midoriya protested as he tried to regain his balance.

“What? I must weigh practically nothing to you, right?” She asked.

“That’s not the issue, I-”

“Come on, Midoriii.” Mina suddenly changed her tone to a sultry one. “Don’tcha want me to ride you? All. Day. Long?”

“M-M-M-MINA!” Tooru suddenly moved to remove the girl. “Th-That’s taking it too far!”

“You’re no fun at all! Besides, he’d tell me if he really wanted me to stop. Wouldn’t you, Midori? ”

The two girls looked at the boy in question who was now blushing furiously with an unreadable expression on his face. Clearing his throat, he adjusted Mina’s position on his back and hooked his arms beneath the girl’s lusciously thick legs.

“L et’s *ahem* Let’s just go.” He stated, his voice briefly cracking.

They arrived at the rescue center not long later, though to call it a rescue center might have been underselling it. U.A. practically had its own ranch at this point, the animals they had taken in over the past year ranged from dogs and cats to chickens and even cattle. On top of their hero duties and studying, U.A.’s students were expected to assist with the caretaking of the animals among other things. The civilians living on campus helped out as well, giving them an opportunity to interact with the students in a constructive environment.

Principal Nezu had been the one to think up this program, viewing it as a way to help mend the gap between heroes and civilians that the war had made deeply apparent. On top of repairing public relations, the program also focused on instilling potential heroes with a more…grounded view on heroism. The war had also made clear the dropping quality in modern pro heroes, too many had rested on their laurels, content with receiving the fame without actually benefiting their community.

“Hiiii Koda!” Mina waved to the large boy from their class. Aside from Shinso, Kouji Koda was the only other student from Class A who stayed at the dorms year round. In the past year by far, he had spent more time at the rescue center than any other U.A. student.

“Hello Ashido! Midoriya! Hagakure!” He greeted the trio with a wave as he tended to one of the cows. Already one of the larger students in the hero course, Koda had grown even more so in the past year, and while Midoriya may have matched him in height, the horned boy was nearly twice as broad, stretching his U.A. tracksuit to its limit.

“This is amazing!” Midoriya said gleefully as he looked around at the center. Setting Mina down, he whirled around to get a better view of the place.

U.A.’s property line covered a vast stretch of land, located near the eastern edge of their campus the animal rescue center stood as a wide, one story concrete building with plenty of windows for natural sunlight. While the main structure served as a training and adoption center, as well as housing the smaller animals, the school had recently added a barn for their larger ‘guests’’ comfort. And while the buildings themselves were great, animals needed wide open space, so U.A. had given it to them in the form of a full acre of land for the animals to play and graze on.

“Isn’t it?” Koda smiled as he moved to join them, giving his cow a small pat on the head before he left it to follow the others in its herd. “Principal Nezu got this all set up a few months into our second year. I even got to help design it! The students and citizens living on campus stop by to help out, de-stress, and even adopt some of the pets that were displaced in the war. This year we’re actually planning to start training some of the younger dogs to become service animals.”

“Koda! That’s the most I’ve ever heard you speak! Ever!” The green-haired boy reeled back in astonishment.

“O-Oh yeah?” The larger boy looked away shyly. “Y-Yeah I guess it has been a while…”

“Koda really came out of his shell this past year.” Mina grinned widely, giving her fellow heteromorph a playful punch to the arm. “You should hear him when he really gets excited.”

“A-Ashido…” Koda blushed as he looked away sheepishly.

As Midoriya began bombarding his classmates with questions about the rescue center, Tooru did what she did best and subtly slipped away. Moving into the main building, she casually greeted the employee at the front desk, quickly rushing through the sign-in process before rushing to her usual spot, a clear goal in mind. A few minutes later, she slipped back out and found her classmates enraptured in conversation. Her heart pounding, Tooru took a deep breath before approaching them.

“Midoriya look! Look look look!” The invisible girl appeared at the boy in question’s side. In her hands, she held a tiny dog, likely the runt of his litter. His eyes were still half-closed, as Tooru had grabbed him before he could properly wake up for the morning. The dog was a boxer puppy, only a few weeks old, and absolutely adorable.

“Awww!” Midoriya’s expression melted as he saw the puppy. Rubbing his hands across the small animal’s belly, the dog let out a content sound as he stretched out in Tooru’s hands. “He’s so cute. What’s his name?”

“Deku…” Mina smiled as she threw her arm around the boy’s shoulder, gesturing to the dog with her free hand. “Meet Deku.”

“D-Deku?” Midoriya looked between Mina and the dog with surprise.

“We put out a poll on the school’s social media account.” Tooru quickly elaborated. “And ‘Deku’ got the most votes so…” The invisible girl held up the sleeping puppy and began puppeteering his tiny front legs. “Hewwo Deku Sr., I’m Deku Jr.” She spoke in a cutesy high voice, making the dog wave to him. “I’m a vewy big fan of youws. Can you pwease wub my bewwy some mowe?”

After another hour at the rescue center, the trio entered the main town on campus. The town was located on the opposite side of the campus from their student housing area with the main school building serving as a middle point between the two.

“So after the war, a lot of people were left without a home to go back to.” Mina explained, a few steps ahead of the other two, walking backwards as she talked. “Some had their houses destroyed by villains, others…” She looked down for a moment. “Others were chased away by their neighbors… for how they looked. U.A. was one of the only places willing to give these people a chance, so after a while it sort of became a safe haven for them.”

“Principal Nezu wasn’t about to remove anyone from the premises who wasn’t ready to leave, so he came up with the new housing situation.” Tooru took over explaining from Midoriya’s side. “Of course, everyone who wanted to stay had to go through a background check, and even then there are some rules everyone on campus have to follow, signing out whenever we want to leave the property, not sharing sensitive information, a pretty strict curfew, etc. They’ll go over it in orientation.”

Midoriya nodded along as she spoke, his hands moving as if he were writing in a notebook. It was an odd little idiosyncrasy of his, but seeing it made Tooru giggle.

“Aaaand,” Mina cut in, sticking her face directly in front of the boy’s. “Because we have so many people living on campus now, it’s opened up a lot of new businesses for the students to enjoy. After a hard day’s work, you can enjoy a nice massage to ease the muscles, unwind in a comfortable social setting, or enjoy a delicious treat. Which brings us to our next stop on the tour.”

The pink girl held up her hand, presenting the building they were now standing in front of. The front window read ‘Bakery’ in white paint, and next to that was a drawing of a cartoon fox curled into a ball. The building was rather tall for such a small shop, one might have guessed that it had a second floor if they couldn’t see the building’s interior. In reality, it just had a high ceiling.

They entered the shop a moment later, a small bell above the door ringing as they walked in. In an instant, a large blur caught the trio by surprise before it engulfed Midoriya entirely.

“It’s you!” A feminine voice cried out. “It’syou!It’syou!It’syou!It’syou!” The shop’s owner jumped up and down gleefully, her massive size causing small tremors in the ground each time she landed.

Ippan Josei was known among the U.A. residents as a shy but sweet woman. Even with nearly seventy percent of the civilians on campus being heteromorph types, she was one of their largest residents and as such was always cautious around others to avoid any accidental injuries.

That caution however, seemed to fly out the door the second Izuku Midoriya stepped into her shop. Sandwiching the smaller boy’s head between her sizable breasts, she hugged him tightly, nearly squeezing the life out of the boy.

“Crybaby hero!” Josei held up the dazed Midoriya by his armpits like a small child. His face and hair were coated in flour from the woman’s kitchen apron.

“ *cough* J-Josei! *cough* Hi!” He greeted the woman between coughs. “It’s *cough* good to see you again.”

“Oh my goodness! I’m so sorry! L-Let me go get something to clean you off!” The fox woman quickly apologized before retreating to the back room for a damp cloth.

“Daaamn Midori!” Mina punched the boy in the back, perhaps a bit too roughly to be considered playful. “You work fast!”

“Um, Midoriya? H-How do you know Ms. Josei?” Tooru asked as she approached the boy shyly.

“Oh um, we met back in the war, d-during my… time away from school.” The boy rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

“He saved my life.” Josei stated as she returned to the front of the store, cloth in hand. “It was raining, everybody was scared, and w-with my size… I guess I looked like a monster to them. I would have died if he hadn’t rescued me from my attackers.”

“Thank you.” Midoriya smiled as he accepted the cloth from her, wiping down his face with it.

“That certainly sounds like him. Right Mina?” Tooru turned to her friend.

“Josei…” Mina said quietly, looking at the tall fox woman with a look of pity.

“B-But ever since then, things have been great!” Josei added in a much more cheerful tone. “I have my own business, everyone at U.A. is so friendly, and for once I don’t have to duck to enter my house!”

“I’m glad for you, Josei.” The green-haired boy smiled.

“Thank you!” The woman smiled back before realization suddenly struck. “Oh my goodness! I’ve been so rude! You three wanted something to eat, didn’t you? What can I get for you? Cupcakes? Scones? I’ve been working on a recipe for a cheesecake you might like.”

“As great as those sound, I’m afraid I’ll have to pass up on the offer. Sorry if I offend.” Midoriya held a hand to his stomach. “I have to keep a very close eye on my diet, it’s a part of my training. Foods high in carbs and sugar…aren’t exactly ideal for me.”

“Whaaat?!” Mina’s jaw hit the floor. “Literally what’s the point of living if you can’t enjoy a good dessert?”

Tooru held a hand to her own belly, she was by no means fat, but she also wasn’t nearly as well cut as some of the other hero course girls. Bakugo might have been flat in the chest, but she had abs that put most of the guys to shame. Kendo from Class B had perfect curves and muscle definition on top of that. And literally any sane person would kill to get the deal Yaomomo had gotten with her quirk.

“Midori, be honest. You aren’t starving yourself for the cameras, are you?” Mina leaned in, poking the boy’s abdominals.

“N-No!” His face flushed red as he shook it rapidly. “I make my own diet set to match my exercise routine! I have since I was fifteen! I don’t starve myself, I’m just very particular about what goes in my body!”

“What about cheat days?”

“I mean...I guess I make exceptions for Christmas and my birthday?” He shrugged. “But then I have to increase my routine the next day to make up for it.”

“...”

“...”

“God bless you Midori, you’re nothing if not committed.” Mina finally relented. “Committed to making me feel self conscious that is.”

“No I… I just… That’s just what works best for me !” Midoriya frantically waved his hands in apology. “Different heroes have different dietary needs! Just look at Fatgum!” When all of the girls crossed their arms at him, he quickly backtracked. “Err, I meant look at Miruko! Her diet is almost entirely vegetables since meat upsets her digestive system, yet she’s still one of the physically strongest heroes out there!”

“Dude, it’s downright scary how much you know about pro heroes.” The pink girl commented.

“Ugh, I really dug myself into a hole here, didn’t I?” He placed a hand on his temple.

“Don’t worry about it, ‘Dori.” Mina elbowed him in the side. “You’re cute enough that it cancels out.”

The boy blushed fiercely, but before he could find a response, Josei spoke up.

“I-I actually have some sugar free options if you’d like to try them!” She suggested, perhaps a bit too excitedly. “New customers get a free sample of their choosing. S-So please, pick out anything you’d like! On the house!”

It was just past noon when Kyoka Jirou entered the 3-A dorms, duffel bag under her arm and headphones over her ears, music blasting. She didn’t actually use the headphones to listen, her earphone jacks plugged directly into her phone after all, they were simply there to help block out ambient noise.

A few students were already in the common room. Thunder-dolt and Kirishima were roughhousing on the floor while Sero recorded it on his phone, Shoji was speaking with Tokoyami in the corner, and Momo was standing in the kitchen with Sato discussing what they should make for dinner.

Kyoka let her eyes linger on the heiress for a moment longer than the others, long enough for Momo to spot her out of the corner of her eye. Smiling, the ravenette waved to her friend to which the punk girl responded with her own, albeit much more reserved, wave. Pointing toward the stairs and holding up her bag, Kyoka subtly conveyed her intentions to her friend to which Momo seemed to understand, giving the girl a nod before turning back to Sato.

The rocker girl began ascending the stairs to her room, her studded leather boots clacking against the tile as she walked. They still had the same room assignments from their first year, so Kyoka knew where to go by heart. Tossing her bag onto the bed, she soon followed after it, flopping onto the bed back first. She had elected to wear a simple gray hoodie and black shorts today, so she got to lounge with some level of comfort.

Though she didn’t know why, Kyoka had been feeling drained lately. From the moment she woke up, to the moment she went to bed, the girl struggled to find the energy to do…anything really. Maybe she’d been pushing herself too hard at her internship recently. Maybe the fact that she was in her final year at U.A. had finally settled in, and the adrenaline high that had carried her through the majority of her second year was finally wearing off. Whatever it was, Kyoka couldn’t seem to shake it, no matter how long she tossed and turned in bed, staring up at the ceiling in hopes of getting a moment’s rest. On the rare occasion that she actually fell into unconsciousness, it was dreamless and she would wake the next morning feeling just as tired as the night before.

She had asked some of the others in her class if they were experiencing similar symptoms, however their experiences couldn’t have been more different. While all of them were on a hectic schedule, balancing classes with internships and their new campus duties, most would pass out as soon as their head hit the pillow, gratefully accepting whatever time they did get to sleep. Kyoka Jirou wasn’t one to overshare, so when they prodded her on if she was still struggling, she would lie and tell them that she was past it. But it weighed on her. She was slowing down at school, at her internship, speaking less to others.

It was becoming harder to keep up the facade.

As the song on her phone finally drew to a close, Kyoka turned off her phone and simply laid there, staring at the ceiling with tired eyes. She pictured Momo in her mind's eye, the pinnacle of beauty and perfection, a true hero who managed it all with ease and still kept her place at the top of the class. Did she ever have moments like this? Moments of such…weakness? She was as human as anyone else, but just so… composed , as though she had everything in life figured out. Kyoka wished that a bit of that would rub off on her, however she was as much of a mess as ever.

Life could just be so unfair.

“I think…I’ll just stay up here until dinner.” She said to herself before shutting her eyes. Maybe this would be the time she would finally get some rest.

As the campus tour finished up, Midoriya excused himself to use the restroom, locating a public one near the center of the small town. When he was finally out of earshot, Tooru turned to her friend before speaking.

“Alright Mina, what’s the deal?” She asked less than politely.

“Huh?” The heteromorphic girl asked, clearly confused. “What are you talking about?”

“The touching, the innuendos, the piggyback ride? You’ve been flirting with Midoriya all day.” Tooru shuffled on her feet uncomfortably. “You…You know I like him. So why? Why are you making this more difficult for me than it already is?”

“Tooru, honey. I’m doing this for you!” Mina replied, placing her hand on her friend’s shoulder. “You heard Pixie-Bob back at the party. You’re trying to net the most famous guy on the planet . If you want to have a chance with him, then you’re gonna have to grow some balls and actually talk to him.”

“Mina!” Tooru pushed her friend’s hand away. “Gross!”

“Figure of speech. Anyways, my point is that this is training. Let’s say you do start dating Midori, here’s a scenario: The two of you are on a date when all of a sudden, a random passerby on the street goes ‘OMG, Deku?’” Mina pitched up her voice, doing an impression of a rabid fan. “‘I’m like your biggest fan! Are you doing anything later? We could go to dinner and then back to my place for… dessert .’” She licked her lips to drive home the point.

“Nobody in history has ever said that line unironically.” Tooru countered.

“So what? You’re just gonna sit there and let him flirt back? Be a fly on the wall?” Mina crossed her arms.

“Midoriya’s not that type of guy!”

“ He’s a guy. He’d flirt with a tree if it made the first move.” Mina stated plainly. “If you want to be seen, first you need to make yourself heard, Tooru. You should know that better than anyone. Take some initiative and talk to the damn boy!”

“About what?!”

“About anything! You’ve got a year’s worth of time to catch up on, that’s plenty to talk about! What about your quirk? You know Midori’s a total quirk nerd, you start talking about that and before you know it you won’t be able to shut him up!” Mina suggested before realization struck her. “Wasn’t he the one helping you to develop your powers? If you showed off some of your new moves to him, you know he’d be beaming with pride!”

“I-I don’t know if I’m ready for that…” Tooru turned away sheepishly, her invisible hands covering her invisible face.

“It’s just like training, Tooru. You’ve gotta go Plus Ultra.”

As Mina said that, Tooru’s mind flashed back to over a year ago, back when she had first approached Midoriya.

PAST

Tooru Hagakure was frustrated to say the least. Zero wins and three losses in combat training was an outright embarrassing showing of the invisible girl’s skillset. After her time working under the Equipped Hero: Yoroi Musha, she had gained a new sense of confidence in her abilities, only for that confidence to be completely shattered in the face of her classmates’ progress.

Losing to Shoji had more or less been a given. The two of them had trained together plenty back at the summer camp, so if anyone could find her, it would be him. And with that huge body and multiple arms of his, she stood no chance in close combat. Even her attempts to disorient him only served to help give away her positioning. He’d had her captured in less than three minutes.

Losing to Todoroki was… another given. She was Shoko Todoroki after all; daughter of the current Number One hero, hybrid quirk user, nearly won the U.A. Sports Festival using only half her power, unstoppable ice queen of Class 1-A. Tooru had thought herself clever, avoiding prolonged contact with the floor to avoid a repeat of their first exercise in hero training. However her efforts had meant nothing in the face of pure, raw power. That fight had only lasted one minute.

When her final opponent ended up being Tokoyami, Tooru had thought she had finally caught a break. Dark Shadow hated light and, as much as she loved the guy, she wasn’t afraid to Warp Refract the sh*t out of him. Her confidence had turned out misplaced however. Flanked from the side, an anxious Tooru had rushed to blast what she thought was Dark Shadow with an immense burst of light, only to be tricked and quickly subdued before her cooldown period had ended.

“You were sloppy out there today, Hagakure. If you’re going to fight stronger opponents you need to be more clever.” Mr. Aizawa advised as the girl returned to the observation area.

“ I know, alright?! ” She retorted, clenching her gloved hands into fists.

Aizawa gave her a stern look before raising an eyebrow.

“I… I’m very sorry sir.” Tooru apologized meekly, letting her arms drop to her sides as she bowed.

“It’s alright.” He closed his eyes and nodded in understanding. “Go and join the others, we still have a few more exercises to get through for the day.”

Nodding silently ( not that it mattered ) she left to go observe the remaining matches alongside her classmates, finding them all watching the screen intently as the next round had nearly begun. They never got chairs to observe the exercises in, only ever being given the option to stand or sit on the floor. That really sucked because after being knocked onto her ass three times today, the last place Tooru wanted to sit was the floor.

“Hey Hagakure. Some pretty tough matchups today, huh?” Mashirao Ojiro greeted the girl, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck.

“Y-Yeah…” Tooru couldn’t bear to meet his gaze, ( again, not that it mattered ) looking away in a vain attempt to hide her shame.

“I uh, I wouldn’t… I wouldn’t let it bother you too much.” He attempted to console her. “You’ve still made some amazing improvements since the beginning of the year.”

It was hard to hear him speak like this. Every word of sympathy from his mouth grated on her something fierce. Today she had wanted, more than anything, to show Ojiro her growth as a hero, to show him that she was more than just the ‘invisible girl’.

She had wanted to be seen .

“ *sniff* Thank you. *sniff* Excuse me I-I need to go to the bathroom now.” She quickly lied, slipping past the blonde boy as she rushed to be anywhere else.

Tooru eventually did reach the bathroom and, entering one of the stalls, slammed the door shut before cradling her legs to her chest and bawling her eyes out. She had looked like an idiot out there, (not that anyone could even see her) like a pathetic girl pretending to be a hero while the others who wielded actual power trampled her. In any real scenario, she would be killed several times over without saving anyone .

Opening her eyes, she looked at the gloves in front of her with no trace of limbs around them. Clenching her fists again, she let out a cry of frustration as she punched the wall of the stall, sending a small echo through the otherwise empty room.

“Tooru?” Mina’s worried voice called out from outside. “You doin’ okay in there?” Tooru couldn’t even find her voice to respond. Her throat felt tight and tears blurred her vision.

Everything was awful. She had messed up big time in front of the boy she liked, her progress wasn’t nearly as far along as everyone else in the class, and she couldn’t see a way to ever even begin to close the gap between them.

She just wanted to be alone right now.

It was only later that night, in the pits of self-loathing, that Tooru had been ready to throw away her pride (whatever small shred of it she had left) and ask for help. Reaching the boys’ side on the second floor of the dormitory, she could see the lights inside peeking out from the closest door to her and hear subtle noises going on behind it.

Good, he was still awake.

Knocking on the door gently, Tooru listened as the noises behind the door suddenly stopped, as though listening for a second knock, unsure if the first had been real. After a brief pause, Tooru knocked on the door again, a bit louder this time. Now she was sure he had heard it, because the silence was quickly replaced with a cacophony of sounds as the dorm room’s resident panickedly moved about the room, tossing objects aside. A few moments later, the door cracked open and a green eye peered out.

“H-Hello?”

“Hi Midoriya, um…can we talk?”

“S-So you wanted to know if I had thought of some…alternative applications for your quirk?” Midoriya asked Tooru, the pair sitting in the boy’s room. The former was sitting in his desk chair while the latter sat on the edge of the bed. Midoriya’s freckled cheeks were rosy at the mere fact that there was a girl in his room. In the middle of the night. Just the two of them.

Midoriya’s room was mostly the same as Tooru remembered it being a few months ago in the ‘Room King’ competition. The only real difference being that it was noticeably messier now. He had a lot of dirty clothes lying across the floor, papers were scattered across his study desk, and colorful sticky notes dotted just about every surface of the room.

Tooru was dressed in her U.A. track pants and a pink v-neck, while Midoriya was wearing an orange t-shirt with the word ‘pajamas’ scrawled across the front and a pair of green boxer shorts. From the way he sat cross-legged in his chair and kept adjusting himself, Tooru had a pretty good idea of what the boy had been up to when she had knocked.

She wasn’t grossed out by it. He’d been in the privacy of his own room and hadn’t been expecting a guest at this hour. More importantly, she knew he wasn’t Mineta who would be completely open to talk about such things in the completely wrong setting. If anything, it put her at ease a little to know that she wasn’t the only embarrassed person in this situation.

“Yeah, I’ve been… *sigh* …struggling a little to keep up with the others in our class, if you hadn’t noticed.”

“A-And you stopped by in the middle of the night because…?”

“Because I’m scared.” Tooru admitted, shifting her position on the bed. “Scared I’ll lose my nerve come morning. Scared that if I don’t ask for help now, that I might never get the courage to do so again. I’m- *sniff* -I’m just really scared, Midoriya.”

“Hagakure, I-I’m so sorry I…” He reached to his desk for a box. “Do you need a tissue, I…” He paused for a moment, staring at the box before realization dawned on his face and he quickly tossed it into the corner of his room, away from sight. “Um, c-can I get you anything? Some water or-”

“No, thank you for the offer, but I could just really use some advice. I mean, you’re a whole lot smarter than I am and you’re always taking those notes during hero training. I figure that if anyone could help me out with quirk stuff, it would be you.”

“I’m… really honored that you think so highly of me, Hagakure. But really, I’m no smarter than anyone else. I take so many notes specifically because I’m not smart and would probably forget about a lot of stuff if I didn’t write it down.” He gestured to the room around him, pointing out the brightly colored sticky notes around the room.

Looking at them closer, Tooru could see that each one had a message from Midoriya to himself, reminding him to complete specific tasks: ‘Do Laundry’ ‘Call Mom’ ‘Figurine Sale: Sunday’ ‘Do Laundry’ ‘Report Due Friday’ ‘Eri Playdate’ ‘DO LAUNDRY!!!’ Now that she thought about it, Tooru noticed that there was a noticeable musk in the air coming from the laundry pile.

Gross.

“Well I don’t know about that…” Tooru initially pushed back on the boy’s comment before relenting with a sigh. “But you do have notes on me?”

“Ummm.” Midoriya looked away nervously, as though concerned that this was a trick question. “I-I do…” He finally nodded.

“D-Do you think I could see them?”

Asking that only seemed to further discomfort the boy, he winced before turning to face the floor.

“My notes are… kind of a um, a personal thing for me. I don’t usually show them to other people…anymore.” He said ashamedly. “Turns out, most people don’t like being scrutinized nonconsensually and told what they’re doing wrong. Who could have guessed, right?” He let out a bitter chuckle.

“Well then I’m consenting .” Tooru leaned forward. “Please, tell me what I’m doing wrong! I need your help, Midoriya!”

“Alright alright! Shh!” Midoriya threw his hands up, placing a finger to his mouth as he whispered aggressively. “Aoyama might hear you next door!”

“Thank you!” Tooru sprang off of the bed, wrapping her arms around the boy’s torso. “Thankyouthankyouthankyou!” She made sure to keep her voice down, but couldn’t help the excitement bubbling up in her chest. “You’re the best, Midori! When can we start?”

“Okay so, we know by now that your quirk isn’t simple invisibility, but rather something more akin to light manipulation. That’s why you’re able to redirect Aoyama’s laser.” Midoriya paced around the gymnasium floor, his notebook held open in front of him.

“Right.” Tooru stood in the center of the gym, listening to the boy’s explanation.

“And you can also imbue other objects with invisibility, most likely by bending the light to pass right through them instead of bouncing off like normal.”

“That one’s a lot tougher.” Tooru nodded. “With a laser, it’s kind of like redirecting a thin stream of water, like from a faucet. But when I have to redirect sunlight, it’s like trying to move a river. And multiple light sources only makes it harder.”

“So you picture light as water?” Midoriya quickly jotted down a few notes. “It’s a good comparison, but it might be limiting your potential. If you don’t mind me asking, have you ever tried to make yourself visible?”

“More times than I can count.” She admitted, her arms drooping. “I’ve tried so hard to turn my quirk off, I even asked Mr. Aizawa if he could do it for me, but no luck. He told me his quirk works by emitting low level radiation from his eyes. Light is radiation, so… whoosh .” She gestured a flowing motion with her hands. “Why do you ask?”

“Well, I was just thinking that given what we know you can do, you should, at least theoretically, be able to make yourself visible.”

“I-I can be seen?” Tooru asked softly.

“I mean, your ‘Warp Refraction’ is based around bending the light that normally passes through you and sending it back out in a large burst. It’s not ideal for viewing but presumably, at least for an instant, you’re visible behind that flash. If we think about it as an electronic device, basically you’ve just been flipping the switch on and then back off again, if we want you to stay visible, we need to switch it on and leave it running. It’s the same principle behind my ‘Full Cowling’ technique.”

“That… That’s brilliant!” Tooru was astonished, her heart now racing. However, reasoning quickly overtook hope. “But, I expend a lot of energy whenever I use ‘Warp Refraction’, there’s no way I could ever use it constantly.”

“Nonono, see? I had the same problem, remember? I couldn’t throw a single punch without breaking my arm!” Midoriya was beaming now. “If we turn down the intensity, we can increase the consistency, letting you use it for longer periods of time! And if we can alter the wavelength, you could make yourself invisible not only to visible light, but infrared or ultraviolet wavelengths too! You could even alter radar!” He continued to list off possibilities faster and faster, however one question still bugged Tooru.

“Still, won’t it have to be a constant conscious effort to maintain?” She asked. “Even if I can become visible, and that’s a big if , it will only be for a short time, I still won’t be normal.”

At that, Midoriya stopped his rambling, turning to the girl. Even if he couldn’t see her face, he could tell she was troubled.

“Hey,” The greenette walked over to the girl, placing a supportive hand on her shoulder. “You can do this. I’ll be with you through the whole thing. Plus Ultra, right?”

“Right.” She nodded, steeling her resolve. Images of Ojiro flashing through her mind as she did so. Picturing the shocked expression on his face when she finally got to show him her’s, followed by another when she finally confessed her feelings to the boy… A heat built up in her chest and a warm feeling spread throughout her body. She would do this. She had to.

“Plus Ultra.”

Three days into her new training, Tooru stood with her arms in front of her, all of her concentration poured into her quirk. Midoriya had given her plenty of visualization techniques to try out, but all of them boiled down to one basic idea: Contain the power, don’t let it explode. It was easier said than done however. If it were as easy as a simple mental picture, she would have gotten it down ages ago.

“Umm, I’m not sure that it’s working, Midoriya. I’m… really not getting anything here.” She said plainly, dropping her arms to her sides.

“Hmm, I think you’re too focused on the ‘contain’ step. You’re so worried about letting out too much power that you aren’t letting out enough. Err, that’s just my take of course.” He quickly added. “Just… don’t be afraid to fail, I certainly won’t judge you for it.”

“Okay, um… alright.” Tooru nodded, shaking out her body before trying again. “Alright, here we go, more power. I can do this.” She centered herself, picturing her end goal in her mind. Ojiro. She could finally tell him.

Her heart began to pick up speed and a faint sparkling began at her hands. White light began to trail up her…fingertips? Fingertips! She could see them! Sure they were just glowing white lights in the rough shape of fingers, but part of her was visible!

“Midoriya, I think I-!” She began, only to quickly lose control over the light and let out a bright flash, blinding the poor onlooker.

“Agh!” The boy reeled back, covering his eyes with his hands. In his blindness, he tripped backward and fell onto his butt.

“Ohmygosh! I’m so sorry! Are you okay?!”

“Ah, yep! All good!” Midoriya pushed himself back onto his feet, still squinting.

“D-Did you see? Just for a moment there I-I-I-”

“I saw! I saw you ! You did incredible! At this rate we’ll get it in no time!” He smiled before turning his attention to the clock on the wall. “And speaking of time, it looks like the gym’s about to close for the night. I think it’s best that we call it here, just try to remember the feeling you were focused on. That’s your key, alright?”

“Y-Yeah.” She nodded. “Got it.”

The next week felt like ages to Tooru. Now that she had finally scratched the surface of her potential, she couldn’t wait to begin practice once more. Between school, homework, and internships, the pair had struggled to find time to meet up for another training session during the week, so they had settled for Sunday morning, giving them the whole day to practice.

Tooru had, of course, tried to recreate what she’d done in Gym Gamma that night, practicing in her room, but had no luck in actually getting the result. As far as she was concerned, the two of them weren’t leaving this room until she could at least see her whole hand.

“Ready?” She asked giddily, hopping up and down as she struggled to contain her energy.

“Definitely!” Midoriya nodded. “I was doing some research, and I thought today we could try-”

“A phone call is here! A phone call is here!” The boy’s phone suddenly buzzed in his pocket.

“Oh, sorry! Just give me one sec.” He turned away before answering. “Hello?”

“DAMMIT NERD! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!” Katsumi Bakugo’s voice blasted loud enough for Tooru to hear, even without being on speaker. “ME AND ICY-HOT HAVE BEEN STANDING AT THE FRONT GATE SINCE SEVEN! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”

“What?” Midoriya asked, confused. “Why are you-?”

“DON’T TELL ME YOU DIDN’T CHECK YOUR EMAIL AGAIN! HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I… UGH! THE ENDEAVOR AGENCY IS HAVING AN ALL HANDS MEETING TODAY! FLAMEHEAD’S DUMB DRIVER IS PULLING UP RIGHT NOW! YOU BETTER GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!” The girl abruptly hung up, leaving Midoriya standing with a deer-in-the-headlights look in his eyes. Turning to face the invisible girl, he made a face like he was trying to decide how to break the news, as though she hadn’t just heard it.

“... I…”

“You should go.” She finally spoke for him.

“H-Hagakure, I am so-” He began, but Tooru stopped him.

“What are you still standing here for?” She asked rhetorically. “Go!” With a hesitant nod, he quickly turned to leave.

“Don’t worry! I promise I’ll help you out later when I get back!”

When the door shut behind him, it caused an echo to sound through the empty gymnasium, signifying Tooru’s solitude.

“This is fine. This is fine. I can just practice until he gets back. Not like he’ll be gone the whole day, right? Let’s do this… for Ojiro.”

Tooru sat on the living room couch in the dark, in the dead of night, phone in hand, looking over the various texts she had sent the boy:

‘How r thngs gong at agency?’

‘Tried technq u tlkd abt, no luck’

‘we still training 2day? If not lmk’

‘Everthing ok ovr there?’

There were more, but Tooru was already cringing at the sheer amount she had sent.

It had been nearly a month since their missed training session together and since then she had made no progress toward becoming visible. Every time Tooru had asked Midoriya about meeting up for a possible training session, he would say the same thing.

“Sorry, it’s just… things are crazy at the Endeavor Agency right now.”

She was sick of it. Sick of hearing that same, horrible phrase over and over again. For an entire month, he had barely talked to her, always leaving for his internship the second the final bell rang. And now he wasn’t even answering her texts! She was beginning to think that he was intentionally avoiding her. Maybe he’d seen the wall of texts she had sent him and gotten scared away? He was a pretty meek guy after all…Even so, if he wasn’t going to help her with her quirk, could he at least tell her outright instead of keeping her on the line?

The girl’s train of thought was interrupted as Midoriya, Bakugo, and Todoroki all stepped through the front door in their school uniforms. They were chattering amongst themselves about the events for the day, Tooru having caught them mid-conversation. Bakugo was bragging about something while Todoroki replied with a flat remark that made Midoriya burst out laughing, which in turn made the blonde girl extremely mad.

“Eep!” As they flicked on the lights, Tooru quickly made her clothes and phone vanish from sight, making a small noise as she did so. The trio didn’t seem to notice however, and as the two girls walked up the stairs to their side of the dorm for the night, Midoriya did the same in the opposite direction, flicking the light back off as he left.

Tooru waited a solid five minutes before returning her belongings to sight. The invisible girl couldn’t help but feel miffed. This was what he was busy with? The whole train ride home and he couldn’t even be bothered to respond? Nooo, he was too busy chatting it up with his two best gal pals! Well now she needed to have a word with him.

Standing up in a huff, she marched up the stairs to the boy’s dorm to tell Midoriya off. Seeing his light on and door open, she stepped through the doorway ready to give him a piece of her mind. She would not be ignored any longer.

“Midoriya! You…” Tooru trailed off as she entered the room.

The greenette was laying on top of his covers snoring away, shoes and uniform still on, hell he still had his backpack on! Looking at him now, it was hard to stay mad at him. Midoriya slept like a kitten, curled up into a ball and making soft noises every so often.

While that sight alone had caught Tooru off guard, what really floored her was the sight of his room again. It was covered in easily twice as many sticky notes as last time. Stuck to virtually every surface in the room, you couldn’t look in any direction without seeing at least half a dozen. A majority of the sticky notes on the walls were red which, knowing Midoriya, probably denoted some kind of color coordinated system.

Picking one up from his desk, it read ‘Hagakure Training’ in black ink. Grabbing another, it read ‘Call Hagakure!’ Another right next to it, ‘Don’t Let Her Down!’ Another, ‘Schedule Time For Hagakure’ ‘Ask Endeavor For Time Off’ ‘Pray Endeavor Doesn’t Kill You’ ‘Review Light-Based Quirks, Maybe Journal #8?’ ‘Phone Broke Again! Get Fixed!’ ‘HELP OUT HAGAKURE!!!’

Letting the last note drop to the floor, Tooru choked back a sob. He hadn’t forgotten her, he’d been making an effort this whole time… for her sake. And what had she been doing in the meantime? Waiting impatiently for the boy to take time out of his schedule to help her out with training.

“I’m… I’m the worst.”

“C’mon…Come on…” Tooru poured out as much power as she could possibly contain. It felt like trying to inhale and exhale at the same time, but she poured all of her concentration into doing it, even if she’d been at it for hours now, not to mention the two weeks of lonely fruitless effort she’d already done. “Come…on…!” She pictured her end goal in her mind, getting to see his face when she finally revealed herself to him.

From her fingertips, a faint glow began to appear, multi-colored sparkles crackled off of her hands and she began to see a glowing white silhouette forming. Tooru’s breathing began to pick up pace and she began to lose control, however just as the glow nearly became too much, she managed to wrestle back control over her quirk, dimming the light to a more manageable brightness.

The clear shape of her fingers returned, the same as when she had first seen it. Only this time, it continued ascending upward, she could see her hands! Her forearms! As the glowing white light neared her elbow, Tooru finally had to exhale, letting the power go. A bright flash of light flared through Gym Gamma, lighting up the entire building.

Tooru collapsed to her knees, panting in exhaustion, tears welled up in her eyes. She had done it! She had managed to recapture that initial spark! All on her own! And not only that, she had pushed it much further than before! Still on her knees, she quickly shuffled over to the notebook she had nearby, writing down everything she could remember about this attempt before she forgot. She had started taking detailed notes during her training lately, it was a pain, both on her mind and her wrist, but she was taking this more seriously than ever now. She had to. She promised him that she would go Plus Ultra.

As the thought crossed her mind, a realization struck Tooru. The ‘him’ that she had begun doing this all for…was no longer the same ‘him’ that she was thinking of during her training.

When she had first managed to make herself visible, two months ago, she had been picturing telling Ojiro how she really felt about him upon revealing her true face. However, she hadn’t really thought about the tailed-boy in weeks. Now whenever she pictured becoming visible, the only face she could picture looking back at her… was Midoriya’s.

PRESENT

“Tooru? Yooo? Earth to Tooru?” Mina’s voice snapped the invisible girl back from her memories.

“Huh? Oh, s-sorry about that.” Tooru quickly apologized. “I kinda zoned out.”

“So what’s it gonna be, huh? Are you gonna actually flirt with him like a grown woman? Or are you gonna go join the other chickens on the ranch?”

“I…I don’t know.” Tooru looked down in shame.

“Well, you better decide quickly because he’s walking back right now.” Mina said as she looked over Tooru’s shoulder.

“What?! I-I-I-”

“S-Sorry about that,” Midoriya apologized as he rejoined the pair. “So was there anything else that you wanted to show me?”

“Well I think that we just about covered it all.” Mina replied before turning to Tooru. “What do you think Toor’? Anything you might want to show him? ”

As Tooru looked at the boy, she took in his appearance for what felt like the first time again. He still had that same cuteness about him, even despite his newfound size, he was like a shy little animal that Tooru wanted to hug like one of her plushies. But he also felt like he could fiercely protect her from all harm, like a big friendly dog. And just being around him gave her a warm feeling. He was…He was…

He was sweating. And the corners of his eyes were red. Had he been…crying? Turning her gaze downward, Tooru saw that Izuku’s hands were shaking ever so slightly. He had clearly taken steps to hide these symptoms, but the invisible girl was perceptive.

“Midoriya, is everything okay?” She asked softly, reaching her hand out to his, her previous shyness being overcome by worry for her friend. As soon as she touched him, the boy recoiled in surprise, his eyes widening as he stepped back.

“O-Oh, yeah! Everything’s fine!” He said with a smile that looked forced. “Just…I um, I forgot that my mom asked me to call her after I got to school. She’s such a worrywart, she’s probably tried calling me fifty times by now! And I…left my phone in my bag, haha, better go grab it!” As he spoke, he began moving to leave. “Th-Thanks for the tour, you two! I had a blas-a um, a great time!”

With that, Midoriya took off toward Heights Alliance, leaving the two girls standing dumbfounded.

“That was…odd.” Mina commented, turning back to her friend.

“Mina, I think something is seriously wrong with Midoriya.” Tooru said solemnly, her voice slightly shaking.

“Like with his guts?” The pink girl asked. “Yeah, I’ve heard that sugar free stuff will mess you up. Think he wrecked that bathroom?” She pointed her thumb back at the public restroom.

“No, I mean like mentally! ” The invisible girl made sure to whisper that last bit. “I’m not…D-Do you think he’s still messed up about the Villain War?”

Mina stood silently for a moment, turning back in the direction Midoriya had run off in only to find him long gone by now.

“... Do you really think so?” She murmured softly.

“I’m not positive, but he seemed… afraid just now.” Tooru replied. “Should… Should we tell Mr. Aizawa about it?”

“...”

“Mina?”

“That was *huff* sh-she… *huff* she saw… *huff* ” Izuku let out a stream of heavy breaths as he leaned up against a tree. He hadn’t gone back to the dorms like he had claimed and instead ducked away into the campus woods, trying to control himself.

After walking out of the bakery with the pair, for some reason, he had begun panting heavily as a cold sweat ran down his body, what little food he had in his stomach had felt like a block of molten lead. His excuse to use the bathroom had more or less gone unquestioned, and he had quickly run into one of the stalls and vomited his guts out. When he was finally empty, Izuku slumped over the toilet bowl, his eyes watering and his heart racing. He calmed down soon after, returning to the group after making himself presentable again. And he had thought that would be the end of it.

Until Hagakure saw right through him.

Instantly, the panic he thought he had banished crept right back in, eating away at his brain. When she had tried to touch him, Tomura Shigaraki’s face had flashed in his mind, the man’s horrific hand reaching out to decay him. He didn’t know what else to do so…he ran.

“It’s alright, Izuku. Just focus on breathing right now.” Nana’s vestige appeared at his side, floating to the front of his face. “Look at me and follow along, okay? Tip of the tongue to the roof of your mouth. Exhale. Now breathe in for four. Hold for seven. And out for eight. Now we repeat.”

Izuku nodded along, following the woman’s instructions as she guided him down, repeating the act half a dozen more times before his mind and his heartbeat finally began to calm down. When he had finally stabilized, the boy let himself slide down the tree’s trunk to sit on the ground.

“I don’t… ugh. I don’t even know what caused it.” He admitted, staring down at the grass, a look of shame on his face.

Directly across from him, a lithe white ghost took form on the grass sitting with his legs tucked behind his arms. Yoichi Shigaraki, One for All’s first user.

“Trauma is one of the strongest enemies that we can combat in our lives.” The frail man said, looking at Izuku with tired but knowing eyes. “And even if we tell ourselves that we’ve overcome it, it has a tendency to linger around, looming in the shadows of our consciousness.”

“So what do you do about it then?” Izuku asked, leaning forward from the tree. “I can’t…I can’t be the hero that everyone needs me to be if I can’t even trust my own body not to quit on me at random!”

“...”

“...”

“When I was alive, I never quite had the chance to…to properly come to terms with my early life. For as long as I could remember, I was my brother’s prisoner, long before he ever put me in that cell.” Yoichi admitted. “And in the end, I only had two months of freedom before dying at his hand.”

“I-I’m so sorry.” Izuku leaned back, pressing his hand to his forehead. “Here I am shaking at the thought of my experience, but that… that was your entire life .”

“I didn’t bring up my past to diminish your own experiences, Izuku. I can assure you, there’s no competition for ‘most traumatized One for All user’.” The first user gave a soft chuckle before continuing his explanation. “In those two months, I lived. I experienced more life than I had ever thought was possible. I ate solid food. I laughed at jokes. I knew love…” He gave a soft smile. “And when I awoke at night, screaming in a panic and unsure of what was real, there was always a supporting hand ready to hold mine.” Yoichi clasped his hands together. “Being alone for all the time that I was, I had plenty of time to think, to form my principles, to dream of a better future… But it was only when I found the rebellion, my family, that I truly began to heal.”

Izuku smiled at the man’s story. He wanted to know more about him, about all of One for All’s users, but now didn’t seem like the right time.

“So then… did you overcome it?”

“There really isn’t a point in time where one can say that they’ve overcome a traumatic event, at least not in my experience. Rather, you simply choose to live and to dwell on the good memories over the bad ones, eventually you’ll find that you haven’t thought about the bad ones in a while and…” The vestige shrugged. “I suppose that’s it. There are good days and there are bad days, but if you accept that there will be both, then the change doesn’t hit you quite as hard.”

“Oh…”

That wasn’t exactly what Izuku had been hoping to hear. However, the ghost of Yoichi stood up for the first conversation and walked over to the younger boy, kneeling as he put a hand on his shoulder.

“If it helps… Since we’ve awoken inside of One for All, you’ve given the other wielders and I plenty of good memories to look back on.”

Izuku looked up at the man, seeing his smiling face through his ragged mop of hair.

“Thank you.” The ninth wielder nodded. “It helps a lot.” Pulling himself up from the ground, Izuku brushed off his clothes before looking outside of the forest.

“What do you plan to do now?” Yoichi asked at his side. “You have your own family waiting for you out there. Are you planning to tell them?”

“I’m… I don’t know yet. I-I really do appreciate your advice, and I’ll definitely think about it, but… I don’t know if I want to burden them. I’m sure that everybody else is going through their own experiences themselves. To add my own problems on top of that? I’m not sure…”

“The choice is ultimately yours, Izuku. But if I could offer a compromise? Find one person whom you trust deeply and confide in them. Your mother? Or perhaps Toshinori?”

“Definitely not.” Izuku shook his head. “My mom doesn’t take news like this great, her health would deteriorate again and just…No. And it can’t be All Might either, things with him are…too awkward right now. Plus with how close he and my mom are getting to be,” He shuddered remembering the other night. “I can’t trust that he wouldn’t tell her. No offense, um Ghost Might.”

The yellow silhouette of a vestige appeared before silently shaking his head. Whether that was to signify that he didn’t take offense or that he did and was expressing disapproval, Izuku couldn’t tell. Luckily this vestige couldn’t relay information to the living All Might, so Izuku was safe.

“But finding one person, someone that I trust and can talk to?” He wondered aloud for a moment, the faces of his friends flashing through his mind.

“I… guess I could do that.”

Chapter 4: Rock the Casbah

Chapter Text

Principal Nezu took a final draw from his cigarette, holding in the smoke for a moment before letting it out in a thin stream in front of him. Making sure that the cigarette was completely extinguished, he tossed the butt into the proper waste receptacle. He knew smoking was a terrible habit, he could list the exact statistics of how many people died from smoking in the past twenty-five years. And yet… he still couldn’t break the habit.

Sighing to himself, Nezu opened the door and stepped out of the waiting room to find one Anan Kurose, better known as the Space Hero: Thirteen, patiently standing outside in full hero costume. With her helmet on, Nezu couldn’t read her facial expression, however her body language indicated that she had news for him of the less fortunate nature.

“Good morning, Kurose.” The principal greeted his colleague with a smile. “I apologize for the wait. Have all of the students gathered in the auditorium as of yet? I do hope that none of our senior students are causing a ruckus among the first years.”

“Well,” The teacher shifted on her feet, placing her fingertips together. “You see… there are more than a few absences for the orientation this year.” She hesitantly explained, her anxious voice heavily filtered through her suit’s microphone.

“Aizawa is up to his usual trouble then?” Nezu shook his head disapprovingly. “For a man who preaches efficiency as much as he does, Shota certainly seems to enjoy causing problems for his fellow staff members. Not to worry however, I made preparations for such an event and typed out a detailed summary of the orientation as well as a five page quiz to ensure that Class A is properly prepared for the semester.”

“Um, we may need to print more of those.” Kurose spoke up. “... A lot more.”

“Oh? Don’t tell me that Kan has fallen in with Aizawa’s antics. That man is far more competitive than can be reasonably healthy for his students’ growth. *sigh* Very well, perhaps we can-”

“Sir? I think that you might want to look out into the auditorium. It… might do a better job of explaining what exactly we’re dealing with here.”

Tilting his head at the woman curiously, Nezu moved toward the curtain separating them from the audience. Pulling it back enough to fit his small head between it and the wall, the principal looked out onto the crowd of students waiting, or rather the lack thereof. Out of the eight hundred seats available in the auditorium, less than a hundred of them were currently occupied by students or faculty.

“Oh my.” Nezu placed a paw to his chin. “That isn’t good.”

“Sir, I am so very sorry.” Kurose bowed repeatedly. “I did everything I could to try to dissuade them, but I’m afraid they were quite persistent on-”

“It isn’t an issue.” He assured her, shaking his head. “If the times are changing it is our responsibility to change with them. I am, however, quite intrigued by what must have drawn such a crowd away from my presentation. Just what, pray tell, are they up to this time?”

“W-Well…”

“AAAALLLLRIIIIIGHT!” Present Mic’s voice boomed over the training ground loudspeakers. “WHO’S READY TO GO PLUS ULTRAAAA?!”

A resounding chorus of cheers sounded from the U.A. students, both new and old, waiting in anticipation. General Studies, Support, Management, first year Heroics, and even a good amount of faculty made up their ranks, all equally excited for the unofficial kick-off to the new school year. The bleachers surrounding the outdoor training area were filled to the brim with the audience members to the point where most had to either stand or fight for a place to sit among the crowd.

“WHAT ABOUT YOU, AIZAWA?! ARE YOU READY TO GO PLUS ULTRA?!”

“This is asinine.” The tired man replied through his own microphone. The two friends sat together at a table directly in front of the field, a hastily assembled announcing booth around them.

“Come on, Eraser!” Snipe yelled from his seat in the bleachers behind them. “Give us a show! It’ll be good for the young’uns!”

“Everyone please observe studiously.” Cementoss advised his students, trying to be heard over the roaring crowd. “Try to learn something from this experience and apply it to your own exams!”

The new homeroom teachers for Class 1-A and 1-B respectively tried to calm down their classes and turn this into a learning experience for everyone present. However, the only ones learning anything from this experience were the teachers, slowly coming to find that perhaps bringing a group of young potential heroes to an impromptu meet and greet with their celebrity peers was a recipe for chaos.

So inefficient.

“WELL I FOR ONE, CAN’T WAIT TO SEE CLASS B TAKE REVENGE FOR OUR SHOWING IN THE JOINT TRAINING BATTLE!” Sekijiro Kan’s voice boomed nearly as loud as Hizashi’s, making Shota regret being placed in the seat between them.

Shota didn’t know how things had gone this far. All he wanted was to have the Quirk Apprehension Test proceed as usual, check on his students’ progress since the end of last semester, then file his report and take a nap. However, while he had been on the way to the training ground with his class, Kan had shown up practically out of nowhere along with his entire class in tow. The white-haired man had declared war on him personally, sending Class 3-B to join their peers in the locker room and begin preparations as well.

When Shota had argued that having both classes take the test at the same time would only cause them both a headache in paperwork and submissions, his colleague had simply ignored him in favor of spouting about how Class B would prove themselves superior this year. Ever the pragmatist, Shota had shrugged and decided to let Kan do as he liked, stating that he would simply pull his class back to orientation and let them take the test at a later date.

Then he received an offer.

“I’ll submit all of the paperwork myself.”

That had caught Shota’s attention.

“And if your class ranks above mine overall…I’ll grade all of the written exams for finals.”

“...I’m going to need more than that.”

“Gah! Fine! What is it you want?”

“Your PTO. I want it.”

“WHAT?!”

“If my class wins, you transfer me half of your PTO days for the year.”

“RRRRFINE!”

It was an offer too good to refuse. He had given into temptation and now he was paying the price for it. One of the students (probably Monoma) had spread news to the entire school about a ‘Legendary Face-Off’ between the third year hero students and before anyone knew it, they had a miniature Sports Festival on their hands.

“Alright,” Maina Furasu, a girl from Class 3-H, stood up as she wiped the sweat from her brow. “We’re golden.” She stated, pulling a small remote from her pocket. With the simple press of a button, a massive tarp unfolded behind the announcing booth before it was suddenly lit up by a projector displaying the names and profiles of the students who would be competing.

“AND WE ARE LIVE ON THE AIR, FOLKS!” Hizashi exclaimed into his mic. He didn’t mean it in the literal sense obviously. This event was only meant to be observed by U.A. staff in the first place, allowing the other students to view was bending the rules as it was, they certainly wouldn’t be broadcasting it to the public.

“IN ONLY A FEW SHORT MINUTES, THE THIRD-YEARS WILL BE COMING THROUGH THOSE DOORS TO COMPETE!” Kan barked out, pointing a beefy hand behind him toward the main building. “WE CAN ONLY IMAGINE WHAT MUST BE GOING THROUGH THEIR YOUNG MINDS AT THIS VERY MOMENT!”

“Hey Kaminari, check it out.” Minoru Mineta pointed up at the ceiling. “If you squint, that mark on the ceiling kinda looks like boobs.”

“Dude, everything looks like boobs to you.” The electric blond responded, zipping up his gym uniform. “You aren’t even gonna try to take this test seriously?”

“What’s the point? With the ‘New Big Three’ competing, what chance do guys like us stand?” Minoru pointed out as he lazed on his back. “Hell, you’re worse off than I am. My quirk can actually help me with some of the events. The best you can do is short out the equipment.”

“Remind me why I’m friends with you again?” Kaminari raised an eyebrow.

“Cuz I’m devilishly charming.” The tiny boy replied with a wink.

“It’s not about competing with each other dude,” Eijirou Kirishima spoke up, joining the pair. “It’s about competing with yourself! You gotta prove that the you of today is even manlier than the you of yesterday!” He said proudly, hardening his arms as he flexed, tearing up the sleeves of his tracksuit.

“Hey guys?” A husky voice asked from the corner. Izuku Midoriya leaned out from behind his locker. “Has anyone seen my gym towel? I could’ve sworn I left it in my locker, but now I can’t find it.”

“Nope.” Kaminari shook his head.

“Sorry bro.” Kirishima shrugged.

“I-uhh, I don’t know man.” Minoru quickly sat up, his eyes darting around nervously. “You sure you even brought it with you today? You looked pretty tired earlier.”

“Yeah, I had it for my jog this morning. I came back for breakfast and then-” The green-haired boy quickly began to break out into muttering, verbally retracing his steps from earlier that day as he paced in a circle.

“Alright, that oughta keep him busy for a while.” The grape-headed boy clapped his hands together before hopping down from the bench.

Spotting the corner of a gray towel sitting tucked on the floor beneath the bench, Minoru quickly kicked it back into its hiding place. There was no chance that Midoriya was getting it back from him, not with how much money an authentic towel of Deku’s could get him online. He knew it was wrong to steal from his friend, but starting up a hero agency was expensive and no kids were exactly lining up to buy figurines of the soon-to-be-hero Grape Juice, so why not spread the love a little? Besides, he had already decided to set aside ten percent of his earnings toward charity, so it was a necessary evil, right?

As Minoru, Kaminari, and Kirishima exited the locker room and entered the main hallway, a familiar head of blond hair poked his head around the corner, much to everyone’s chagrin.

“Oh? Is Class A still not finished getting prepared?” Neito Monoma smiled deviously. “That’s weird! Class B is already prepped and waiting! And didn’t we arrive later than you? I suppose that means Class A isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be, huh? Why don’t you-”

“Is there something we can help you with dude?” Kaminari interrupted, crossing his arms. “Maybe find you a decent psychiatrist?”

“I already have one thank you very much.” Monoma responded smugly. “And as if anything you could do would ever help me.”

“Monoma!” Itsuka Kendo’s voice caused the boy in question to flinch, turning slowly to face his class representative. “You had better not be talking down to them again! The last thing we need right now is more interclass drama.”

“W-What? Of course not, K-Kendo-san! I was simply… engaging in a friendly dialogue with our e-esteemed colleagues! And besides, a little friendly competition never hurt anyone!”

“So that’s what this is about.” Kirishima stated. “You’re trying to turn this into another feud between A and B.”

“Whaaaat? I would never! “ The boy mocked offense at the accusation. “But now that you’ve brought the subject up, I suppose it’s inevitable for us to view this as a competition of sorts.”

“Alright, you’re getting slapped, Monoma.” Class B’s representative began marching over as she rolled up her sleeve.

“I don’t think I’d mind a little competition.” Mina Ashido suggested, stopping the redhead in place. “It could be fun.”

“We do push our limits the most when we’re up against one another.” Reiko Yanagi pointed out.

“I suppose this is as mundane as things get around here.” Momo Yaoyorozu admitted with a sigh.

A few others murmured in agreement while the rest already began preparing themselves for the upcoming events, now knowing they would have to push themselves that much further.

“Now hang on,” Minoru stepped forward to the center of the gathering crowd. “If we’re making a contest out of this, we’re gonna need to put some skin in the game. Otherwise what are we even fighting for?”

“Bragging rights?” Rikido Sato shrugged.

“Nah,” Kaminari shook his head. “We’ve had those forever. S’boring now.”

“What do you mean you’ve had them forever?” Kosei Tsubaraba interjected. “You guys only won the Joint Training Exam. As I recall, we beat you guys in the first year final exams, the licensing exam, and the Culture Festival! That’s three to one!”

“Pfft!” Kaminari brushed the other boy off. “Those don’t count. We weren’t even competing those times! And are you forgetting? We kicked your asses in the Sports Festival! All the podium spots went to 1-A!”

“Mineta!” Tenya Iida had finally had enough of this. “How dare you suggest we place wagers on an official exam! What kind of respectable member of our prestigious institution would do such a thing?!”

“Relaaax Rep.” Sero Hanta placed an arm around the taller boy’s shoulder. “It’s all in good fun. And besides, the prize probably won’t be cash or anything. Nobody’s breaking any rules here.”

“Grrr.” Iida remained silent but didn’t look pleased.

From his place at the center of the crowd, Minoru cleared his throat gathering everyone’s attention.

“I say…” He paused for suspense before making his big reveal. “The girls of the losing class have to do a lewd photoshoot for the winning class!”

“I like that idea!”

“Me too!”

Sen Kaibara and Yosetsu Awase from Class B both raised their hands in agreement.

“Oh you have got to be-” Kendo began but was cut off.

*Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*

Several loud explosions silenced everyone present.

“YOU LITTLE CRETIN!” Katsumi Bakugo yelled in anger. “I’LL KILL YOU!”

Sweating and terrified, the tiny boy began backing away as the explosive ash blonde stalked toward him.

“C-C-C’mon, B-B-Bakugo…i-it’s not like you’re worried a-about losing, r-r-right?”

“I AM IF LOSERS LIKE YOU ARE GONNA DRAG DOWN OUR SCORE! AND WHAT THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH A BUNCHA PICTURES OF DUMB BROADS ANYWAY?!”

“Hey!” Pony Tsunotori began to protest before Kendo put a hand in front of her.

“You really wanna get in her way?” The redhead raised an eyebrow, causing the American girl to gulp before shaking her head.

“PICK A DIFFERENT PRIZE DAMMIT!”

“Uh, um, okay…” Minoru quickly began thinking up a solution. “How about a servant? Winning class gets to pick anyone from the losing class to be their servant for a… for a month! ”

There was a short pause as both classes mulled over the suggestion.

“A servant?” Yaoyorozu questioned. “Would the individual in question receive remittance?”

“It wouldn’t really be a punishment if they did.”

“So… what? They just do like, house chores and sh*t?” Togaru Kamakiri asked.

“ Whatever the winners ask.” The grape-headed boy clarified.

“Within reason.” Kendo declared with a serious expression.

“So we’re decided then?” Hiryu Rin asked. “The winning class gets a servant from the losing one for one month?”

Nobody spoke up against it, even Bakugo simply rolled her eyes.

“Sounds great!” Ashido grinned evilly, turning to the blond boy who started all of this. “Monoma? Would you say that you’re about a waist size thirty? I have the cutest little outfit you can try on!”

All of Class 3-A turned to the boy in question, sporting matching grins on their own faces, their minds lighting up with ideas. Monoma began to sweat profusely, backing away in fear.

“N-Now hold on, maybe this warrants further discussion. R-Right everyone?” The boy turned toward his classmates, looking for support only to find none.

“Better him than me.” They all thought to themselves, not meeting Monoma’s gaze.

“Guys, come on!” Minoru exclaimed in protest. “We could win our own maid for a month and you want it to be a guy?! Think about this! C’mon Kaminari, you get it, right?”

“Sorry dude, I think revenge beats out horny this time.” The boy responded.

“Nooo! I trusted yooouuu!” Minoru fell to his knees at his friend’s betrayal.

Before the discussion could continue any further, a deep voice cut in from nearby.

“Everyone?” Fumikage Tokoyami spoke up. “You may want to come see this.”

Intrigued, the other heroes-in-training walked over to the end of the hallway where the bird-headed boy stood. Hopping on his toes to see out the window, Minoru briefly caught sight of what awaited them outside.

“... Why is the entire student body outside?”

“AND HERE THEY COME!” Present Mic’s voice boomed in Katsumi’s ears. “FORTY OF U.A.’S BEST AND BRIGHTEST! HERE TO SHOW YOU THEIR STUFF!”

“Damn parakeet.” She muttered behind gritted teeth, raising a hand to her ear. “Gonna blow out my eardrums with all his damn yelling.”

“You alright Kacchan?” Izuku asked, appearing at her side.

“M’fine, Deku. ” The girl sneered before turning away, wincing as a loud ringing sounded in her ear. “Gah!” She leaned forward in pain, clutching at her head. When the taller boy leaned down to her level, a look of concern on his face, she knew she wouldn’t be able to hide it anymore.

“Kacchan-”

“It-It’s my damn hearing aid, alright?” She answered in a low whisper, pulling the small device from her ear. It was made to be discreet, so not many people even realized that she wore one.

“You…have a hearing aid?” The boy asked in surprise.

“That a damn problem, nerd?”

“No, I just mean… I guess I’ve always just thought of you as being invincible. N-Not that I think less of you because of it! If anything, I think…well…” He trailed off, losing his point.

“Tch.” She turned away again and the pair continued to walk quietly while Present Mic introduced the classes and the audience cheered for their favorites.

“...”

“...”

“...I got it after the war.” Katsumi finally relented. “My ears can normally handle the sound of my explosions but I… overdid it during the final battle. Now I’m…I’m kindasortofhardofhearingontheleftside.” She quickly admitted, her cheeks turning red.

“Kacchan, I-”

“Don’t you dare go thinking that I’m a single iota weaker because of it! I’m stronger than ever, Deku!”

Izuku didn’t say anything, he simply nodded and continued to walk by her side, waving to his fans in the crowd with a big dumb grin on his face. As much as Katsumi may have wanted to express it, she truly didn’t mind him standing by her. Her face flushed, she simply stared straight ahead toward the waiting area where the participants were gathering.

“Deku!” One of the first years called from the crowd. “Show us what you can do!”

“You’re the man!” A masculine voice cheered.

“Deku, I love you!” A feminine voice cried out.

Gritting her teeth, Katsumi picked up her pace and marched ahead of the boy.

“WITH ALL OUR CONTESTANTS GATHERED, IT’S TIME TO GO! GO! GO!” Present Mic stood up from his seat, stomping one foot on the announcing booth table. “OUR FIRST EVENT IS THE FIFTY METER DASH, BABY! FIRST SEAT OF EACH CLASS, GET YOUR BUTTS ON OVER TO THE STARTING LINE!”

The crowd made their excitement known, the wait up to the events having finally ended.

From her place in the Class 3-A waiting area, Hitomi Shinso sighed as she stepped out of the crowd, muttering something beneath her breath. Next to her, Yosetsu Awase walked forward as well, tightening his headband with a serious look on his face.

A projector screen behind the announcing booth lit up with the faces of the two students. Beneath their profiles were two blank boxes set to record their times for the event and to the left of their pictures were forty empty boxes aligned vertically.

“A REMINDER TO THE PARTICIPANTS!” Vlad King yelled into his microphone. “INTERFERING WITH ANOTHER STUDENT’S PARTICIPATION IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED! THIS IS STILL AN EXAM AND WE NEED ACCURATE DATA!”

If she was bothered by the assumption that she would use her quirk to cheat, Shinso didn’t show it, instead focusing on properly setting up her starting block. When the buzzer to begin finally went off, both students took off down the track. It was a bit anticlimactic of a start, even if they were faster than the average high schooler, neither’s quirk had anything to do with mobility.

Shinso reached the finish line two-tenths of a second slower than Awase, gritting her teeth as she wiped the sweat from her brow. However, up in the stands a group of third years, likely the girl’s old classmates from General Studies, proudly raised a banner that read ‘GO SHINSO!’ on it in bold text. The girl smiled shyly before walking back to join her class.

Up on the projector screen, Awase’s profile displayed his time in gold, his picture moved to the top box on the list and Shinso’s was displayed in silver beneath it. The second seat of each class was called up next, reaching the starting line by the same time their classmates returned.

“Try not to slip.” Ashido playfully warned as she got in starting position.

“I wouldn’t worry about it, your snail trail will be too far behind to be a problem.” Kaibara replied as he finished stretching, choosing to forgo his own starting block.

This time when the buzzer sounded, the event was notably faster. The pink girl was quick, skating on her acid with a practiced ease. Kaibara was much quicker however, taking off in a whirling cyclone akin to a cartoon character. He finished in just over three seconds while Ashido took four and a half.

Awase and Shinso were moved down to third and fourth place while Kaibara and Ashido’s faster times were displayed above them in first and second respectively.

“Ooooh? What’s this?” Monoma leaned toward Class A’s side with a smug expression. “Could it be that our class is actually beating your’s? But how could that be? Maybe you’re all just-”

“ONE MORE WORD OUT OF THAT MOUTH OF YOURS AND I SWEAR TO GOD!” Katsumi yelled at the boy, clenching her fists.

“Kacchan, please!” Izuku put a hand on her shoulder which the girl immediately pushed away. Turning on the taller boy, she placed a finger to his chest.

“SHUT UP, DEKU! YOU DON’T KNOW sh*t ABOUT-”

*Clunk!*

A half-filled water bottle hit the blonde girl upside the head, interrupting her tirade.

“Hey!” A feminine voice yelled from the bleachers, one of the new first year girls. “Leave Deku alone!”

“Yeah!” The girl next to her cheered. “Stay away from him, you bully!”

“You little-!” Katsumi growled, turning to yell back, only for Izuku to step in the way, an angered look on his face. Only he wasn’t facing her.

“HEY!” Izuku yelled in an octave that Katsumi had never heard from the boy before. “Don’t you dare throw ANYTHING at my friend!”

“Eep!” The two girls quickly ducked away, disappearing in the crowd of students around them.

“Kacchan,” The larger boy turned around, his anger now replaced with worry. “Are you alright? Did they hurt you at all?”

In an instant, Katsumi was brought back to their childhood, thirteen years ago. The forest. The log. Falling into the river. Izuku’s outstretched hand. And that same look of worry in his eyes.

“I-I… I’m fine… D-Deku.” Katsumi struggled to speak as her blush overcame her.

She had refused his help back then, her mind still unwilling to accept what her heart had decided. But she was different now, she was better now… she hoped.

Izuku placed a scarred hand on the side of her head, parting her hair as he checked for any potential bleeding or bruising. When he found nothing of concern, he looked down at her (Katsumi still wasn’t accustomed to him being taller than her) and gave a reassuring smile.

“Sorry,” He apologized afterward, retracting his hand. “Just had to be sure.” When he saw that Katsumi’s face was now bright red and staring at him with her mouth agape, the boy paused. “Um, Kacchan?”

“...”

“Are you sure you’re alright?”

“...”

“K-Kacchan?”

“...”

Why did the stupid nerd have to get so damn big and sexy?!

The event continued to much fanfare and Izuku soon found himself next in line to compete. Katsumi had absolutely blitzed Kojiro Bondo from Class B, a massive explosion from her back had accelerated her past the finish line in just over two tenths of a second…aaaand sent her flying well over the bleachers and into the field across the training ground. However she had earned the top spot on the leaderboard, bumping Iida down to second, and Shihai Kuroiro to third.

It would probably take her a while to get back though.

“NEXT UP: SEAT NUMBER EIGHTEEN! SHOW US WHAT YOU’VE GOT!”

Several of the boys in the class clapped Izuku on the back as he stepped forward, whooping and hollering in excitement. When his image appeared on screen, the crowd more than matched that energy, repeatedly chanting his hero name as loud as they could.

“DEKU! DEKU! DEKU! DEKU!”

Izuku waved to the crowd, using the public face he’d developed over the past year to appear as though he wasn’t incredibly uncomfortable.

And he was.

“SHOW HIM WHAT YOU’VE GOT, MONOMA!” Vlad King slammed his hands on the announcer’s table before standing up on it. “DON’T BE INTIMIDATED! YOU CAN BEAT THIS PUNK IN YOUR SLEEP!”

“I would like to remind the staff that biased commentary is against school policy and is clear grounds for punishment from the school board.”

Vlad King turned to the tired man sitting next to him, cleared his throat and then calmly sat back down in his seat.

“Please disregard any prior comments.” The large man stated in a much calmer tone.

From his place at the starting line, Izuku turned around to see Monoma holding out his hand to the Class 3-A representative.

“A shame about you losing your first place spot, Iida. But you’ve certainly done your class proud. Put’er there!”

“Oh come on!” Mineta rolled his eyes.

“Dude, like he’d fall for such a stupid trick!” Kaminari scolded the other boy. “C’mon Iida, stand back before he-”

Without a word, Iida held out his own hand and accepted the gesture, grasping Monoma’s hand in his own and shaking it.

“DUDE!” The other two boys cried out.

“What is wrong with you?!” Mineta yelled angrily.

“Did he use Shinso’s quirk on you?!” Kaminari asked before slapping the back of Iida’s head.

“Oww!” Iida turned to the electric blond. “Why would you do that, Kaminari?! I was merely returning Monoma’s display of comradery! To refuse such a gesture would be unsportsmanlike!”

“But it was obviously a trick! He just copied your quirk!”

“Even so, I will not abandon common manners for the sake of winning!” Iida boldly stated, adjusting his glasses as he spoke.

“Oh Iida,” Uraraka shook her head, an amused grin on her face. “Never change.”

As Monoma stepped up to the starting line, his calves grew in size before mufflers sprouted out of their back. Wincing in pain, he hobbled the last few steps before setting up his starting block, his new engines revving up as he took his place to start.

“Ugh, the heteromorphic types always hurt the most.” He muttered beneath his breath.

“DON’T BLINK FOLKS! OR YOU MIGHT JUST MISS THIS ONE! RACERS READY?!”

Izuku began to kick the ground repeatedly, running in place for a second before standing still, a glowing red energy building up in his legs. A few members of the audience gave an odd look, but most just cheered, excited to witness the world’s most famous hero in action.

“I can’t believe that you’re using our meta-abilities for something so pedestrian.” One for All’s second user, appeared as a blue phantom at his side. “You know, anyone in this audience could secretly be plotting to kill you. You really want to show your hand to them?”

“You’re too caught up in the old way of things, Kudo.” Bruce, the third user, appeared soon after as a red phantom, placing a hand on his colleague’s shoulder. “We aren’t fighting a war anymore, it’s a time of peace. Let him enjoy it. Otherwise, what are we fighting for in the first place?”

As much as Izuku wanted to say something to them, he was in public and didn’t want to look crazy in front of everyone. It wasn’t like he planned on going full-force or anything, he didn’t want to break the sound barrier and make anyone’s ears bleed after all. And he really only needed Gearshift to decelerate properly, otherwise he’d end up flying off like Katsumi.

*BRRRR!* *FOOOOM!*

By the time the buzzer stopped, Izuku was already at the finish line, or rather, about ten meters past it. A massive burst of wind quickly followed in his wake. Even with the power of Iida’s Recipro-burst, Monoma didn’t come anywhere close to beating Izuku.

“LOOKS LIKE WE’VE GOT A NEW BEST TIME ON OUR HANDS, FOLKS!”

Looking up at his time on the clock, Izuku saw that he had come in at a bit less than two-tenths of a second, or just below Mach One. His score took the top spot among the students, pushing Katsumi down to second place. Monoma meanwhile finished with a time that put him in fifth, just below Kuroiro and just above Shoda.

“Phew…” Izuku wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead as he walked back to the rest of the class. “I’ve gotta work on my stops some more. That could be dangerous in a populated area!”

“NEXT CONTESTANTS, COME ON DOWN!” Present Mic screeched as a spiky-haired boy ran up to meet Izuku.

“Alright!” Kirishima cheered as he greeted his friend. “We dominated this event! No way anybody left tops that time! With Midoriya on our side, Class B doesn’t stand a chance!”

“I’d re-check that math if I were you.” Monoma gave a smug grin as he stepped past Izuku, gesturing toward the leaderboard.

“Huh?”

“As I recall, our competition was based around which class scores the highest, not which student does. You may have secured the top three spots on the leaderboard, but take a look. If you add up the total rankings between classes, your score still exceeds ours by nearly a dozen points!”

“Uhhh,” Kirishima still looked confused. “Isn’t that good for us?”

“No, blockhead! Think about it: Scoring first place is ideal, isn’t it? And that would add one point to your class score, whereas last place would add forty. Therefore, having a lower score is better for your team.” The blond clarified. “It’s like golf.”

“So points are…bad?” The redhead scratched his head before turning back to the projector screen, quickly adding the numbers together in his head. “Oh crap dude! They’re kicking our butts!”

“It’s alright, Kirishima.” Izuku reassured his friend. “We can get them back in the next event.”

“Easy for you to say, dude! You’ll fly through these events like nothing! It’s the rest of us that have to worry about dragging you down!” He faced Izuku in a panic. “I don’t wanna be a servant!”

“Nobody’s dragging anyone down, we’re a team. Alright? We beat the League of Villains together, this is nothing compared to that.”

Kirishima nodded at his words before slapping himself across the face and clashing his hardened fists together.

“Sorry about that, bro! That was totally unmanly! Let’s kick their asses! Together!” He raised his fists high before running back to the others, chanting ‘Together!’ repeatedly as he did so.

“Boy, he is really easily swayed.” Izuku commented to himself as he followed behind his friend.

“Wait…what was that about a servant?”

Izuku Midoriya was a man of great strength and far greater will, that much was obvious to anyone who had heard tales of his extraordinary efforts in the war against the Paranormal Liberation Front.

Like the biblical warrior of old, Samson, he seemed an unstoppable force capable of toppling buildings, slaying beasts, and waging wars by his lonesome. And while Ibara Shiozaki detested the worship of heroes as false idols, if there was ever a hero, nay, a man of such biblical proportions, it was Midoriya. Born of humble origins with no prospects save for a burning desire for justice, through what was surely divine intervention, he rose to become their generation’s greatest champion.

However, it was that same greatness that Ibara saw in the green-haired boy that worried her so. Every great hero had their fatal flaw: Achilles had his heel, Superman had Kryptonite, and Samson had Delilah. And while she could see the line between reality and story, Ibara still worried for their country’s savior. Fame changed people, and when she looked at Midoriya, she no longer saw the small and meek boy from her first year. In his place she witnessed a proud and confident man, eager to show off his incredible abilities and physique chiseled by the Lord himself.

Why else would anyone wear that tight of a shirt? There had to be larger sizes available.

As Midoriya sent the ball in his hand directly into the stratosphere, the right sleeve of said shirt tore from the sheer force of his throw. He wore a black compression sleeve beneath, but the definition of his large arm was clearly visible beneath. As the crowd behind her erupted into cheers, Ibara clasped her hands together, sending a silent prayer toward the man.

“Hello, fellow Green-o! How’s it hanging?” A voice from behind caught Ibara’s attention. Setsuna Tokage.

The vine-haired girl let out a sigh.

“Great job on the grip test by the way,” The lizard-like girl congratulated her. “Second place is nothing to sneeze at. I’m pretty envious, most people would kill to be sandwiched between Midori and Yaomomo.”

“Was there something that you needed, Tokage-san?”

It was no secret that Ibara didn’t get along with Tokage in particular. The girl was a serpent in the grass if ever she had met one. Every other word out of her mouth was crass, sinful, or some blatant double-entendre. That being said, the serpent herself either didn’t seem to mind (or somehow didn’t notice) Ibara’s distaste for her. She was always acting as though they were good friends and their constant disagreements were some kind of comedy routine they performed for the others.

They were not. Ibara genuinely disliked her.

“Just wanted to have a chat with my spiky pal about the competition.” Tokage shrugged, leaning into Ibara’s side before continuing. “Mmmore particularly, the prize .”

“Ugh, are you all still on about that utterly ludicrous proposal? I had taken it for another one of those disgusting jokes you all enjoy indulging in.” The vine-haired girl separated herself from her classmate.

“Oh we’re dead serious.” Tokage gave a sharp-toothed grin. “Ashido’s already looking into a maid outfit for Monoma and he is sweating his ass off right now, it’s great. Joke’s on her though, we’re still beating them by three points.”

“...”

“Speaking of,” She continued, ignoring that Ibara was ignoring her. “Some of the others and I were debating who we’re going to pick if we win. A lot of the boys are voting for Yaomomo, Tsubaraba’s deadset on Asui, Tetsutetsu wants Kirishima, and a few of the others are undecided. I’m after the big fish, Midoriya.” Tokage explained, holding her hands apart to exaggerate her point. “I figure I can pretty much get the girls on board easily enough, and probably a few of the guys if we play up the humiliation angle a bit: Put him in a couple outfits, maybe braid his hair, take some pictures. Sounds fun, right? Whaddya say? You in?”

Ibara didn’t say anything, rather she turned to the shorter girl with an expression of shock and disgust on her face.

“Uh, did I-?” Tokage began, only for Ibara to cut her off.

“DELILAH!” She yelled, pointing an accusatory finger at the lizard girl. “Y-You…Delilah!”

“...Um, no. Setsuna.” The girl responded, pointing toward herself. “You doing alright? Do you need some water or…?”

“Silence! I will no longer tolerate this egregious behavior you and our classmates have demonstrated! We must be better than this!” Ibara quickly stomped away from the other girl.

“Where are you going?”

“To inform our instructors that you all are behaving as heathens!”

“No, don’t tell on us!” Tokage pleaded, reaching out her hand. “C’mon, ‘Zaki!”

However Ibara was hearing none of it, instead she walked directly toward the announcer’s booth to inform Vlad King of what was going on behind his back. She would accept her share of the blame as well, of course. She should have informed the staff right away when she first heard tell of such atrocious actions going on, regardless of whether or not they were a joke.

“ALRIGHT!” Vlad King’s voice echoed over the speakers. “WITH THE BALL THROW NOW CONCLUDED, ONLY THREE EVENTS REMAIN! PLEASE STAND BY AS WE TAKE A SHORT INTERMISSION BEFORE WE BEGIN SIT-UPS!”

By now the competition was winding down, the more ‘flashy’ events had concluded and the audience’s adrenaline was beginning to fade. A few were beginning to leave, but most still wanted to see how things panned out, possibly even getting to meet their new peers afterward.

“Vlad-Sensei!” The girl called out to her instructor as the large man was standing up from his seat. Next to him, Aizawa was scrolling through his phone casually while Present Mic was nearby conversing with a group of students.

“Ah, Shiozaki.” He greeted her. “Was there something you needed? I was just headed to the men’s room.”

“Sensei, some terrible information has reached my ears recently.” Ibara considered her words for a moment before continuing. “I have come to learn that…a set of individuals have placed a…a wager on the outcome of this exam.” She winced as she spoke the words. “I know, this is a most horrible accusation against a member of our esteemed academy, but I am willing to testify to its authenticity.”

Her instructor stared back at her, his eyes widening as he turned to face Aizawa, who’s one remaining eye was equally wide. No doubt they were in shock to hear of their students’ less than heroic exploits.

“Such an act can only be seen as heinous and requires the most serious punishment for all parties involved.” She continued, shedding a tear.

It pained her to condemn her friends and classmates so. However such an act was the only considerable solution to maintain Midoriya’s purity and rescue him from the acts of temptation and debauchery that Tokage had no doubt planned for him.

“W-Well *ahem* Shiozaki, I see. Thank you for…bringing this to our attention.” Aizawa spoke up, looking perturbed.

“I felt it was my duty to inform you before I sought forgiveness from a higher authority.”

The highest authority. She only hoped he could find it in his infinite love to forgive her.

“Um, I-I-I don’t think that will be necessary, Shiozaki.” Vlad King waved his hands erratically. “We don’t need to inform anyone else of what is going on here, let alone him! He’s a very busy man, after all and this seems…beneath his notice.”

“Ah!” Ibara was taken aback. “How dare you, sir! How dare you refer to him as a mere man! How dare you presume to know his will! I can assure you that he sees all and is already well aware of the situation! I would suggest that you seek his forgiveness as well!”
“R-Right! Of course!” Vlad quickly bowed his head to her. “Of course. Err, but if may I ask? Just how many of the other students know about this…wager?”

“To my knowledge, all of them between our two classes.”

“ALL OF THEM?!” Aizawa and Vlad yelled in unison, now outright panicked.

“I know.” Ibara shook her head. “Shameful. However I trust you both as heroes and as our trusted mentors to take appropriate action in response to this revelation.”

“...”

“...”

“You’re right. We should take responsibility. Thank you, Shiozaki. Please, give us a moment to speak in private.”

“Of course.” The girl nodded. “I will rejoin the others and await the details of your punishment.” She gave a polite bow. “Thank you for your understanding.”

As Shiozaki stepped away from the table, Sekijiro Kan turned to his fellow teacher with a look of shame. His student had been correct in everything she had said, they had made a mockery of this fine institution. Gambling on the success and failure of their students? Truly shameful.

“How did she even find out?” Aizawa asked as he leaned an elbow against the table.

“Obviously we were careless.” Sekijiro replied with a sigh. “One of the students likely overheard our conversation and informed the others. You have quite a few who specialize in stealth and reconnaissance, don’t you?”

“I do.” The long-haired man nodded. “And after all of those lessons, they turn their powers against me.”

“It’s not their fault. Like Shiozaki said, he likely knew about our bet the second we made it. You know him, he’s got eyes and ears all over the school and we committed a fireable offense under his watch. We’re lucky he hasn’t called us in already.”

“Lucky? If I know that rat, he’s schemeing at least a dozen new ways to torture us.” Aizawa slammed his head into the table. “We’ll be buried in phone calls and paperwork until the end of the semester. He won’t fire us, he’ll just make us wish he did.”

“Not to mention we’re already likely in hot water because of how all of this turned out.” Sekijiro gestured to the hundreds of students around them.

“And whose fault is that?”

“What?! You’re blaming me?”

“Of course.” Aizawa shrugged. “This was your idea.”

“Well um…” Sekijiro couldn’t exactly deny that accusation. This had, in fact, been his idea to begin with. “M-Maybe we can still make this up to him, y’know? Lighten our sentences a bit?”

“I doubt it. He isn’t exactly the forgiving type. The best we can do is prepare ourselves for what’s to come.”

Sekijiro pictured the principal’s face, contorted into a maniacal grin as he cackled loudly, handing them stacks upon stacks of forms they would be required to fill out. Even if his class won this competition, his PTO was going down the drain.

“... Yeah. You’re probably right.” The large man slumped back in his seat.

“And what’s the deal with your student? Wanting to hear the ‘details of our punishment’? Just what kind of students are you teaching, Kan?”

“I… can’t say I understood that either. Shiozaki has always been quite… opinionated . It’s made cooperation with her peers difficult in the past, but she’s not some kind of sad*st!”

“Regardless, the break will be ending soon and we should just focus on getting through this. The only thing that’ll piss Nezu off more is if we don’t come out of this with proper results.”

“Right. Let’s just… Let’s just get through this.” Sekijiro hung his head in shame. “I only hope that our students can forgive their incompetent instructors.”

“Woohoo!” Kinoko Komori cheered from her spot on Kojiro Bondo’s shoulders, raising her soda can to the air. “Class B rules!”

“WOOOO!” The rest of the class hoisted their drinks up as well.

From her seat at the kitchen counter, Itsuka Kendo looked over her class with a satisfied grin on her face. Four points. In the end it came down to four points between winning and losing. And despite not placing first in a single event, their class had consistently ranked middle-of-the-pack in practically every event. When it came down to it, that turned out to be enough.

Class B had won the competition. By the skin of their teeth, sure, but they had won . And while that on its own had been great, getting to watch Monoma nearly piss his pants in fear of losing? Priceless.

“C’mon, Rep! What are you doing over there?” Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu asked from his spot in the living room. “It’s a party! Join in!”

The orange-haired girl gave a dismissive wave to her classmate, she wasn’t much of a ‘party girl’ per se, more of a ‘party mom ’. She just liked making sure everyone was having a good time. Speaking of, their guests should arrive any-

*CRASH!*

“ALRIGHT! THERE!” Katsumi Bakugo yelled as she kicked in 3-B’s front door. “I SHOWED UP TO THE STUPID PARTY! I’M LEAVING NOW!”

“Oh no you don’t!” A male voice called out from behind.

As she turned to leave, the blonde was grabbed on either side by Kirishima and Midoriya, the taller boys hooking their arms beneath her’s and lifting her off of the ground.

“Dammit! Lemme go!” The girl yelled out, her legs flailing beneath her.

“Sorry, bro. But you’re gonna have to mingle whether you like it or not!” The red-haired boy apologized as he and Midoriya carried her inside the house, leading the pack as the rest of Class 3-A followed behind them. They all seemed as cheerful as ever, save for Bakugo, despite their loss only hours ago.

“I brought dessert!” Rikido Sato held a large platter over his head, stacked on top of it were numerous brownies stacked in a pyramid.

“Oooooh!” Pony Tsunotori eyed the treat with a trail of saliva leaking from her mouth and a glimmer in her eye. Reaching for a brownie, the American girl was caught by surprise as her hand was slapped away.

“No!” Monoma cried out. “Pony, what are you doing?! They’re the enemy ! You can’t trust any food they give you! After their loss, there’s no doubt they’ve planned some kind of trick to take revenge on us! It’s the only logical conclusion!”

Itsuka walked up behind the boy before chopping his neck, causing the blond to fall unconscious.

“Or they’re just decent people who aren’t completely insane like you.” She caught the boy by the shirt collar before he could hit the ground, tossing him backwards onto the couch. Turning back to Class A, the girl let out a sigh. “I’d apologize for his behavior, but what would be the point? We all know he’ll be up and at it again soon enough.”

“We appreciate the thought, Kendo-san.” Momo Yaoyorozu smiled, giving a slight bow in greeting. “Congratulations on your victory today, we are truly fortunate to have such strong rivals in all of you.”

Itsuka was glad to see that there was no bad blood between classes, especially from Yaoyorozu. Over the years, the bond between herself and Class A’s vice representative had grown to the point that the heiress was like a sister to her. The two constantly strived to outperform one another whether it was in grades or hero work, yet still remained amiable despite it all.

“Class B feels the same. Even that blond idiot.” Itsuka nodded back, extending her hand out. “You sure made us work for that win though.”

“I doubt it will be the last competition between our classes.” Yaoyorozu gave a slight chuckle. “Don’t expect the same outcome next time however.”

“Looking forward to it. But for now, why don’t we enjoy the party?” Itsuka gestured to the rest of the room.

“Right.” The heiress nodded.

The night proceeded, for the most part, without incident from there. Everyone chatted with one another cheerfully, telling jokes, recounting stories from their internships, and otherwise enjoying themselves. Someone brought out a dancing game to play on the dorm’s television. Kirishima and Tetsutetsu were facing off against each other fiercely to some quickly-paced song. Most were partaking in the snacks, though Monoma steered clear of anything Class A had brought. Other than that, it was a fun, easygoing night.

Until Setsuna spoke up.

“Alright guys,” As the girl finished speaking to Reiko Yanagi, the green-haired girl floated her top half above everybody else to gather their attention. “I think it’s finally time we all addressed the elephant in the room.”

Everyone present turned to look up at her, their curiosity piqued. Most understood immediately, however a few of the others didn’t catch on quite as quickly. From the corner of her eye, Itsuka watched as Shiozaki scoffed before leaving the common room, walking up the stairs and back to her bedroom.

“Before the competition today, we had ourselves a little wager.” Setsuna continued. “And I know our peers over in Class A aren’t the type to back out of a deal.” The girl gave a toothy grin. “So how about it? I think it’s time that we vote on who’s going to become our class’ servant for the next month.”

“Wooo!” The rest of class cheered, raising their drinks in celebration. Itsuka rolled her eyes, but half-heartedly raised her own cup.

“Okay, just so we keep things anonymous, right now Yanagi is passing out pens and slips of paper to everyone in Class B. Write down the name of who you’re voting for, fold your slip, and pass it back to Yanagi, alright? And Class A? No peeking!”

As the girl finished speaking, a pen and paper floated in front of Itsuka, courtesy of their resident ghost girl. After a moment of hesitation, the orange-haired girl accepted the items.

“Consider our options, everyone!” Monoma called out to the class. “Use this as an opportunity to break their spirits! Choose their leader so that we may subjugate them to our whims! Make them suffer! So that they may never challenge us again!”

“Uh, I vote that Monoma doesn’t get a vote.” Sero stated as he raised his hand.

Looking back down at her slip of paper, Itsuka considered her options. Yaoyorozu was a popular choice from what she had heard, a lot of the boys were planning to vote for her. She knew Awase had a huge crush on the heiress, and as much as she wanted to help her fellow classmate, she wouldn’t subject her friend to all of the boys’ perverted schemes for Awase’s sake. A couple of other names had gotten thrown around; Todoroki and Bakugo among others, probably more so to simply see how they would react than any real desire to have them as a servant.

But there was one name who was seemingly on everyone’s mind. Midoriya. Practically all of the girls would be voting for him if Setsuna was to be believed. And true, having the world’s most famous celebrity at her beck and call for a month sounded fun… The guy had been through enough, hadn’t he?

For each and every one of them, the past year…hell, the past two years had been exhausting. They were supposed to be training to be heroes in a controlled environment, and yet they found themselves thrusted into an unprecedented time of conflict so demanding that even the seasoned pros were throwing in the towel. And that had gone doubly so for Midoriya. Everywhere there was a villain attack or a sudden crisis, the boy had somehow found himself at the center of it, and yet he took it in stride, rising to meet every challenge before him.

Didn’t that earn him some kind of break?

Making her decision, Itsuka left her paper slip blank. Holding it out in front of her, she watched as Reiko’s quirk whisked all of the slips back into her hand. A few moments later, Setsuna stepped forward with the tallies in hand, an excited look on her face.

“Alrighty, ladies and gentlemen! I have in my hand the final results of the vote! Drumroll please!” She paused for dramatic effect. “Tied for fifth place with one vote each: Asui and Kirishima!”

“Kero?” The frog girl looked curious as to who voted for her, meanwhile Kirishima let out a sigh of relief.

“In fourth place with two votes: Todoroki!”

The half-cold half-hot user blinked but otherwise didn’t emote in the slightest.

“In third place with four votes: Bakugo!”

“WHOEVER THE f*ck VOTED FOR ME, I WILL FIND YOU!”

“Our runner-up with five votes: …Yaoyorozu!”

“Oh my,” The girl in question placed a hand to her mouth. “I’m honored that you all think so highly of me!”

“And…Class B’s new servant for the next month is… Izuku Midoriya! Get on up here, Greenie!” Setsuna began a round of applause as the large boy was brought forward to the center of the room. “Why don’t you tell us all how excited you are about your new position?”

“Sorry Midori.” Itsuka muttered to herself from the corner, letting out a sigh. “I did what I could.”

“Um… Hi everyone.” Midoriya meekly waved to the other students. “I uh, can’t say I was aware of this wager until shortly before coming here, but I won’t use that as an excuse to back out. You guys won fair and square, so… I guess we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other for the next month. And well… please take it easy on me, if you would.”

“Oof, that’s a tall order, Beefcake. Not sure if that’s feasible.” Setsuna commented, her head detaching from her body and floating next to Midoriya’s face. “Aaand our place is looking a little dirty after all this partying soooo…” The girl’s floating hands delivered a broom and dustpan into the boy’s hands. “I think it’s time to show us your stuff, kid.”

Midoriya chuckled, rolling his eyes but accepting the items nonetheless. As he got to work picking up the various pieces of litter dotting the floor, the other partygoers quickly began to wind down for the night. Class A slowly began to file out the front door and head back to their own dormitory while many of Class B let out tired yawns, tired after their long first day. Monoma grinned evilly, intentionally tossed his garbage onto the floor which earned him a kick to the shin from Itsuka. Muttering a quick apology, the boy hobbled up the stairs and into his bedroom, safe from his terrifying class rep.

“Sorry about all of them.” The tomboy bowed to Midoriya as he continued cleaning, by now they were the only two left in the living room. Itsuka began to assist with the cleanup, grabbing the dirty utensils left out and rinsing them in the sink. “They certainly can’t tell when a joke has gone too far.”

“Don’t even worry about it.” The muscular boy replied as he dumped out the dust bin into a trash bin. “It’s all in good fun. Besides, this is probably a good reality check for me. Gotta be careful not to get a big head with the whole global celebrity thing and whatnot.”

“Oh, are you famous or something now? I hadn’t heard.”

The pair shared a laugh as they continued to clean.

“But seriously, you guys were amazing out there.” Midoriya commented. “Everyone’s been developing their quirks so much while I’ve been away.”

“Oh please,” Itsuka waved off the compliment. “You could practically swat us all away with your little finger, mister ‘All Might Jr.’ Next to you, we looked like children trying out our quirks for the first time.”

Midoriya paused his cleaning, turning to face Itsuka with a look of surprise and confusion. The girl stopped her own dishwashing to look back, feeling her heart drop. Had she offended him? What had she said wrong?

“I don’t think it looked that way at all.” He replied. “If anything, I was the one who looked like a child. You’ve all mastered your abilities to such an incredible degree, you did things out there that never even occurred to me were possible. Meanwhile I still haven’t managed to fully wrest control over my quirk.”

“Really? Didn’t seem like that to me.” Itsuka raised an eyebrow. “I heard you were up to something like forty-five percent power before you left. What are you at now?”

Izuku sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.

“...About seventy.”

“Really? I would’ve thought you’d be up to a hundred by now. You grew so fast in our first year.”

“Yeah well, back then I was fighting opponents stronger than me on a regular basis, and between fights I was training my quirk constantly. Between traveling, patrols, interviews, and all the other stuff I had to do, my schedule was hectic. I hardly had time for any training at all, and instead of Overhauls and Shigarakis, I mostly just caught purse snatchers and gunmen with the occasional Nomu here and there. I did stop a runaway train one time though.”

“The casual way that you just said that only further proves my original point.” Itsuka crossed her arms. “Last month I caught a villain who’s quirk turned his snot into lava … That’s been the highlight of my career so far.”

“There’s nothing to be ashamed of in that.” Midoriya argued. “It’s good that things are slowing down a bit, don’t you think? It’s certainly better than the alternative.”

“Yeah, of course. And don’t get me wrong, slow or not, I’m still all-in on being a hero. I don’t know, I guess I just have regrets about not doing more?” She shrugged. “You saved the world , Midoriya. And you’ve continued saving the world for a year now. Meanwhile, the others and I spend half of our time as crossing guards or mall security. I’ve got my provisional license, my internship, I’m nearly graduated and yet… I don’t feel very heroic.”

“... you aren’t the only one.” Midoriya muttered under his breath.

“Sorry, what was that?”

“N-Nothing!” The boy quickly replied before dumping another load of garbage into the bin. “I-uh, it looks like we’re all done here! Thanks for all of your help!” He gave a forced smile as he began to back away toward the door. “I’m not too sure how this whole ‘servant’ thing is supposed to work out, but I’m sure you guys will let me know about it tomorrow. A-Anyways, I should get going for the night. Thank you for the wonderful party!” By the time he finished speaking, Midoriya was already out the door.

What a strange guy. For their generation’s best and brightest, he was still an odd little duckling. Well, maybe not so little anymore. Still though, Itsuka liked him. Midoriya was kind and easy to get along with, and it didn’t hurt that he was pretty easy on the eyes. If they actually ended up going through with the servant thing, having him around more could be… fun. And while she didn’t regret not voting for him, she was glad that he had ended up winning the majority of votes.

It would only occur to Itsuka later in bed that the math behind those votes… didn’t quite add up.

Chapter 5: Zombie

Chapter Text

“Are you feeling nervous at all, Izuku?”

“No, no I’m… Okay yeah, I’m pretty nervous.” The green-haired boy replied, turning to his companion. “Is meeting the president like a big deal here? Because it feels like a really big deal.”

“It is a very big deal.” Melissa Shield nodded as she leaned in close to fix his suit’s collar, their space in the car’s backseat was just a little cramped. “But don’t worry, all you have to do is shake his hand and say what we rehearsed. It’ll be easy. My dad’s done it twice already.”

“Yeah.” Izuku gulped. “Easy.”

“You’re thinking too much about it. Just treat it like you would any other hero work. If it helps, you could pretend you’re All Might.”

“Oh! You mean like that time he earned a medal for-”

“Focus, Izuku!”

“Right.” He nodded. “Sorry. Bad time to nerd out.”

Trying to distract himself from his nerves, the seventeen year old turned to look out the car window. The drive to the White House was taking a bit longer than he expected, but that was understandable given the sheer size of the crowd gathered outside.

Through the tinted glass, Izuku saw the thousands of people who had gathered to see him in person, his fame as a hero apparently having spread well beyond Japan’s borders. Fans held up signs decorated with his image surrounded by hearts and cheered when his car drove by. It was so unreal.

Then he saw it. A lone man was standing deathly still in the otherwise rambunctious crowd, a large sign held above his head.

“WHERE WERE YOU WHEN STAR DIED?”

Izuku felt a lump form in his throat as the man somehow made direct eye contact with him despite the glass being one-way.

“We’re here.” The driver stated in monotone.

“D-Do I really have to go?” Izuku turned back to Melissa, only to find that the backseat was empty, save for him. Up in the front of the car, the driver turned around to face Izuku. The boy instantly recognized that he had met the man before. Ethan Drive, one of the pilots who had assisted him in the final battle against Shigaraki.

Only now he was missing half of his face, leaving the scorched bone beneath it exposed.

“Get out.” The man ordered.

Izuku suddenly found himself walking up the carpeted stairs toward the podium that awaited him. The crowd around him was dead silent, their faces void of any expression yet their eyes following him all the same. He wanted to stop, he wanted to fly far away from here, but he kept walking against his own will. Hanging his head, Izuku tried to avoid all of the gazes on him, finally reaching the podium after what felt like an eternity.

“For your efforts and heroism that truly go beyond,” A woman’s voice said, echoing across the silent crowd. “You have the thanks of myself and my country.”

Izuku looked up at the speaker, already knowing well who it was.

“Congratulations, Izuku.” The distorted voice of America’s Number One Hero spoke. “You got to live.”

“I’m sorry.” The boy whispered, tears welling up in his eyes.

“SORRY?!” A large hand grabbed Izuku by the throat. “YOU’RE SORRY?! I’M DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU! MY MASTER’S SUCCESSOR?! WHAT A JOKE!”

Lifting him to eye level, the hero known as Star and Stripe held the struggling Izuku as though he were nothing to her. Her skin was a sickly green color and her face was peeling off to reveal the rotten muscle and bone beneath. Most haunting of all, her eyes were gone, leaving behind only empty sockets that bore directly into Izuku’s soul.

“WHY?!” She let out a shrill shriek. “WHY DID HE HAVE TO CHOOSE YOU?! YOU FAILED US! YOU FAILED US ALL!”

Izuku shot up from his bed, his face and chest slick with sweat.

“sh*t. *huff* Holy sh*t.” He breathed out heavily, placing a hand to his chest. His heart was racing.

“Are you alright, Midoriya?” Hikage Shinomori appeared next to Izuku’s bed. “You look as though you’ve seen a ghost.” Probably an attempt at humor to ease the situation, but Izuku was too distracted to notice.

“I’m good.” He nodded, pushing back his sweaty bangs. “I’m good. Just another bad dream. Well, more like a memory than a dream.”

It was true. Everything up to the sign he saw had actually happened during his time away. From there, his imagination and his guilt had taken the wheel.

“Your body is present, but your mind is stuck in the past. You’ve been restlessly tossing about every night since you returned home.”

“Ugh, I don’t know why it started now of all times, I just-” Izuku paused before turning to the fifth user. “Have you been watching me sleep?”

“Not necessarily, I’m usually just the only one up at this hour and I can only drift so far from your person before I dissolve and go back into your head.”

“Oh. I’m… sorry.”

“It’s nothing to be sorry about, Midoriya. We’re afforded quite a few luxuries despite being, you know, dead.” He assured the boy. “We still get to sleep and dream, when you’re happy or sad we feel an echo of your emotions in all of us.”

Izuku gave him a sad look.

“That doesn’t feel like enough. You guys have done so much for me, and I’m just this cage you guys have to-”

“Do you enjoy talking down to yourself, Midoriya?” Shinomori asked.

“What?”

“You do it so much I can only imagine you get some satisfaction out of it. Or I would if I didn’t feel the anxiety shivers going down your back every time you spoke like that.”

Izuku didn’t respond, instead he simply tightened his grip on the bedsheets.

“Do you honestly believe that everything is your fault? Would you say that you single-handedly stopped the League of Villains?”

“No.” He shook his head. “Of course not.”

“Then the inverse isn’t true either. You aren’t at fault for things that were set in motion long before you were born. Give yourself a break, you don’t hold the world in your hands. So stop focusing so much on yourself and turn your attention outward.”

“I don’t focus on myself too much.” Izuku argued.

“Are you forgetting that I live in your head, Izuku? I know how you think. And I’ll be the first to admit that having voices in your head isn’t doing you any favors, but narcissism is still narcissism even if your view of yourself is negative.”

“...” Izuku looked out his bedroom window, seeing that it was still dark outside. There was so much running through his head right now. Thinking for a moment, he turned back to the ghost sitting on his dresser. “We have some time, and I really don’t feel like sleeping right now. Did you… wanna talk some more?”

The sun rose slowly over the horizon as Izuku finished his pull ups for the morning. The morning light reflected off the beads of his sweat as he dropped down to the floor, grabbing a nearby hand towel to wipe himself off.

Exercise helped clear his mind. It had become such a regular part of his routine that it was hard for him to imagine how he had occupied his mornings before he started training with All Might. The memory of how weak he had been back then, and the thought of how much more he could have done, all the lives he could have saved, had he started training just a few years sooner… It drove him to constantly push himself harder.

Izuku took a swig of water before he dropped to the floor and started on his supine bicycle kicks. Reflecting on his earlier conversation with Shinomori, he considered the man’s words to him. Maybe he was narcissistic, going from a quirkless nobody to a globally recognized hero in the span of two years would likely do that to anybody. But did he think that the other negative points he had about himself were unfounded?

No. Definitely not.

He had been given the greatest gift anyone could ever receive, from the greatest hero of all time no less. If he didn’t master it soon, if he didn’t continue to work harder than everyone else around him, then he would be failing All Might and all of the other users’ sacrifices.

He had to be better .

Rolling backwards on the floor, he moved on to his next exercise. Lifting his legs into the air and supporting himself purely on his hands, he began doing pushups in the handstand position. The blood in his body rushed to his head and arms, and his scars began to ache in response, but he pushed forward regardless.

The pain was a reminder of where he had come from, his successes and his failures: Todoroki. Stain. Muscular. Overhaul. Nagant. Shigaraki. All of them hard-fought, all of them worth the damage he had suffered.

He remembered the heartbroken look on his mother’s face, the horrified tone in her voice, the tears she shed, each and every time he had come back to her looking worse for wear. As tough as those fights were for him, they were even tougher on her, constantly left wondering if her son was still alive or not. It was a miracle she hadn’t gone gray yet with all the stress she was under.

Finishing his morning warm up, he hopped back up to his feet and hydrated again before walking out of his bedroom door and toward the stairs. Entering the common room, Izuku was surprised to find he wasn’t alone as a certain fire and ice user was already there doing stretches.

Todoroki was dressed in a white tank top and black shorts that extended down past her knees. Her long hair was tied up in a simple ponytail that hung down over her shoulder while she bent down to touch her toes.

Izuku didn’t immediately make his presence known, instead opting to stare in silence at his female classmate. It wasn’t so much a conscious thing as his teenage hormones overriding his sense of common decency, but he didn’t exactly fight it very hard.

He had always found Todoroki to be a beautiful girl and he would be lying if he said he didn’t have a bit of a thing for her, one that had only grown in the time they had been friends, but to say she was complicated was an understatement. She was unreadable . Izuku had no idea what she was thinking at any point in time. For all he knew, she didn’t even like guys!

Plus there was the whole business with Kodai at the mall and that dream with Uraraka and- oh god she was looking right at him!

“Are you going to keep standing there staring, or are we going to get started?” She asked with a soft smile.

“Eep!”

“So, Midoriya *huff* how was *huff* your trip?” Shoko asked between breaths. “You haven’t *huff* really *huff* said much *huff* about it.”

“It uh… It had its ups and downs. *huff* But overall, I would say the experience was *huff* good for me. Definitely *huff* very eye-opening.”

Normally the half-cold half-hot user wouldn’t make small talk, especially during a time like this, but she was trying to be more open this year and Midoriya was the easiest person to talk to.

“Do you *huff* think *huff* we can *huff* slow down? I can’t *huff* keep up.”

“Come on, final sprint! Nearly there!”

The pair raced to finish first before finally slowing down to a stop, leaving both panting, Shoko a bit more so than Midoriya. The girl placed her hands to her knees and closed her eyes, letting her breath catch up to her.

“That was *huff* difficult.”

“It gets easier with time.” The green-haired boy replied as he leaned back and took a deep breath. “I have to say, I was a bit surprised when you asked to run with me this morning. But you did really well! Have you been jogging while I was away?”

“Clearly not enough.” Shoko breathed out as she righted herself.

Midoriya let out a chuckle before grabbing the hem of his t-shirt and wiping down his own face, giving Shoko a peak at the defined eight-pack the taller boy had developed over the past year.

It was definitely worth it to come out this morning.

“So,” Midoriya began as he put his shirt back down, completely oblivious to his voyeur. “What’s new with you then? You’re still at the Endeavor Agency, aren’t you?”

“Yeah.” The girl nodded. “Though my dad is starting to take a more ‘hands-off’ approach.” She said in air quotes. “Which for him means taking one day off a week. But he has been focusing more on preparing me to take over for him when he retires.”

“Well that’s good. Job security is nice. So things are… okay between the two of you?”

Shoko thought for a moment, tilting her head.

“Yes. I would say that things are good between us.”

“Good. Um, sorry if that was an awkward question. I’m still a little out of step with everyone and-”

“Midoriya,” Shoko placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder, silencing him. “I said it was good. Thank you for asking.” She stated with a soft smile.

Blushing at her touch, the muscular boy smiled before turning away to hide his face.

“So *ahem* um, are you hungry at all? I know I’m starving .” He placed a hand to his gut.

Shoko simply nodded her head and the two entered Heights Alliance together, finding several of their classmates in the main room in various states of preparation for the day.

“Come oooon, this suuuucks!” Kaminari complained as he buttoned his shirt. “I don’t wanna go to class! I wanna party!”

“We just partied last night.” Jirou pointed out to him as she slipped on her shoes.

“Exactly!” The electric blond pointed at the girl. “They can’t expect us to go straight from party-mode to class-mode without at least one buffer day in between!”

“Ugh.” Jirou rolled her eyes.

“Oh? Now what do we have here?” Kaminari suddenly snapped out of his whining and turned his attention toward the pair who just entered. He dashed forward to inspect Shoko and Midoriya with a dumb grin on his face. “It looks like two of our top students are trying to sneak back into the dorm without being seen! Up to something naughty I bet! Midori my bro, why don’t you spill the d-EeEeTs!” The blond froze up before falling to the floor as Jirou’s earphone jack pierced him.

“Would you cool it? They were obviously jogging.” The punk rocker shook her head before standing up from her seat on the couch.

“Stop doing that!” Kaminari yelled as he shot back up. “It really hurts!”

“Then you should stop being an idiot!” She retorted.

As the two launched into a heated argument, Shoko and Midoriya looked at one another before stepping around them to avoid getting pulled in.

“Does arguing mean that they like each other?” The heterochromatic girl asked in a hushed voice.

“I… I really wouldn’t know.” The green-haired boy shrugged in response.

That idea had always baffled Shoko, that two people who always bickered could actually be compatible with one another. Before her mom… left , she and her father had fought nearly constantly, never seeing eye-to-eye. In the past year however, Shoko had been reading up on subjects like romance (Ashido had provided the study material) and it seemed that the trope was far more common than one might think. If anything, it reminded her of the relationship that Midoriya had with Bakugo.

That was a disturbing thought.

They entered the kitchen and Midoriya began to put together a protein shake for himself. When he asked Shoko if she wanted one as well, the girl simply shook her head in response before walking up the stairs to get ready for the day. Stripping out of her sweaty jogging clothes, she grabbed a towel from her bedroom before walking to the bathroom. As she rounded the corner however, she ended up face-to-face with the only other girl living on her floor.

“Oh uh, hey.” Hitomi Shinso greeted her awkwardly, quickly averting her eyes. She had a towel wrapped around her chest and a second, smaller towel wrapped around her hair. There was a bit of steam coming off of her body.

“Hello.” Shoko raised a hand, her face expressionless.

“Um, I’ll just get out of your way then.” The girl quickly moved to leave.

“Actually, I’m glad I ran into you. May I ask you a question, Shinso?”

Shinso halted in her tracks, standing still for a moment before turning her head.

“... okay.” She squeaked out.

Shoko turned around so they could speak face-to-face, having to look up to meet the taller girl’s eyes. The lavender-haired girl quickly turned her head again, desperate to look anywhere else but at Shoko.

“Do you-”

“I’m sorry.” Shinso quickly cut her off. “But do you think you could um, cover up?” Her eyes darted to Shoko before quickly turning away again.

“Oh.” The girl in question looked down and noticed that she was still in the nude and hadn’t bothered to wrap her towel around herself. “My apologies.” She said without a hint of embarrassment, quickly tying her towel around her chest.

“Thank you.” Shinso let out a sigh of relief, closing her eyes and relaxing her shoulders.

“Do you think Midoriya and I would be a good match?”

Shinso’s eyes shot open as she froze in place.

“Huh?!”

*Vrrr!*

Izuku’s phone buzzed for the fourth time in class that day, causing the boy to shift uncomfortably in his seat. He wasn’t exactly sure who could be texting him this early in the day or why, but they seemed very desperate to get his attention. But whoever it was, they could certainly wait another few minutes for class to end. Couldn’t they?

“So,” Aizawa spoke as he set aside their completed exams on his desk before taking a seat. “I’m sure that plenty of you have questions as to how your final year is going to look when your first two were so different from one another. It took a lot of discussion among the teachers but we’ve come to a conclusion as to how things will proceed.”

That caught Izuku’s attention and the boy was quickly pulled away from worrying about his phone as he listened intently to his teacher.

“While your first year was primarily focused on lectures in a classroom setting, the events that unfolded toward the end of the year forced us to abandon that approach and instead rely on you all as full-fledged heroes, which I cannot stress enough, you are not. There is still plenty left to learn in the curriculum and you all are much further behind in your academics than you should be. And while the field experience you’ve gained in your second year has been invaluable to your growth as heroes, we will henceforth be cutting back on patrolling hours to focus on catching you up to the other third-years.”

Words of protest began to form among the students, but they were immediately silenced by one of Aizawa’s glares.

“That being said,” He continued. “We’ve decided to conduct the third year as a hybrid between your first and second. You will be spending more time in the classroom than last year, tests will be more frequent, and we will be proceeding through lessons at an accelerated pace. You will still be able to go on patrols but there will now be a set limit on the hours you are allowed to put in, any drop in your grades will see a corresponding drop in hours for the entire class .” Several eyes darted toward Kaminari who immediately shrunk back in his seat. “In addition, you will still be expected to perform your assigned duties on campus where you will be put in the required hours and, if necessary, help train the first years to perform their tasks properly.”

Izuku was jotting down everything that Aizawa said as he spoke. He wasn’t exactly up to date on how everything had changed while he was away, so it was vital that he learned everything he could as soon as possible.

*Vrrr!*

His phone buzzed again and Izuku let out a sigh. Glancing up at his teacher, he saw Aizawa get up and turn around to write something on the board. Seizing this opportunity, Izuku quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, quickly reading the text.

‘Listen 4 the bell.’

Raising an eyebrow at the curious message, Izuku swiped his thumb to read the others but was stopped by a voice.

“Am I boring you, Midoriya?” Aizawa’s voice asked in a veiled threat.

“N-No, sir!” The green-haired boy shoved his phone back into his pocket.

It was scary how fast the man had caught him. Izuku had barely had his phone out for a second. Even if he was retired from the field, not to mention missing half of his vision, Aizawa’s perception was as sharp as ever.

“Good. I wouldn’t want to think you were losing interest in what I have to say, especially since it pertains to you specifically.” He set down his chalk before leaning forward onto his desk. “After missing your second year, you are currently further behind than any of the third years and as such, you won’t be permitted any patrol hours until you’ve caught up to the rest of the class. That means no hero work, no interviews, and no leaving campus until then.”

Izuku’s eyes widened at that information and he opened his mouth to speak, but the look on his teacher’s face told him not to.

“B-But sensei, what if there’s an emergency?” Uraraka raised her hand.

“If a situation arises that requires Midoriya’s presence, an exception can be made, however it will be up to the staff to determine what constitutes an emergency.” The man answered, glancing at the brunette before turning back to the rest of the class. “I’m aware that we are asking a lot from you all. You’ve already been through more than even most pro heroes can claim and you don’t even have your full licenses yet. However I know that all of you have it in you to become the best heroes this country has seen, and it’s precisely because of that that I know you can all meet these challenges and rise above them.”

*Ring!* *Ring!*

The sound of the school bell signified the end of the class.

“We’ll be concluding for now.” Aizawa stated as he pulled out his sleeping bag from his desk drawer, slipping it on as he continued. “You’ve each already received your assigned campus duties for the week via email, if you have any questions or special requests please direct them to someone *yawn* other than me. Goodbye.”

And with that, the first class of their final year was concluded.

“This sucks!” Uraraka whined as she chewed on a piece of grilled fish. “Ryukyu promised that I’d get to join her on patrol more this year. Now I’ll be lucky if I can even keep my internship!”

“Kero, I doubt she’ll let us go for something that’s out of our control.” Asui pointed out. “She’s always been pretty accommodating in the past.” The frog girl reached out a gloved hand to grab her rice bowl.

Izuku had asked about the gloves at the beginning of the lunch period to which his classmate had replied something about bad circulation, but her tone and the look Uraraka had given him afterward gave the boy an odd feeling.

“Even if she doesn’t fire us, I still have to worry about budgeting! With reduced hours, my income plummets! My parents need that money!” Uraraka countered.

“I thought they asked you to stop sending them your paycheck, kero.”

“They’re too proud to admit it, but they really need the help.” She explained. “Even with all the reconstruction going on across the country, there’s a ton of new safety regulations in place that need to be implemented to stay up to code. But it’s so expensive to do so that my parents actually lost money on their last job!”

“Perhaps you could appeal to the school board for special permission.” Iida suggested. “If you explained your situation, I’m certain that they would understand.”

“I guess…” The brunette shrugged. “Maybe if I-”

*Ding-a-ling-a-ling!*

A soft ringing sound caught everyone’s attention.

“Was that the bell?” Todoroki raised an eyebrow before checking her phone. “We should still have another fifteen minutes before lunch ends.”

*Ding-a-ling-a-ling!*

It sounded again.

The five students looked around for the source of the noise only to find nothing. No one else even seemed to notice the noise, so it had to be close by. Maybe someone’s phone?

*Ding-a-ling-a-ling!*

Their questions were answered as a small brass bell floated down to their table, seemingly by itself.

“Y’know, they say every time a bell rings, a master is calling her servant.” A voice whispered into Izuku’s ear.

“Gah!” The boy jumped as a set of sharp teeth nibbled on his ear. “What the…?”

“Hey Midori, got a job for you.” Setsuna Tokage approached the table with a casual wave as her mouth floated back and attached itself to her face.

“Tokage-san!” Iida rose from his seat, chopping the air with his hand. “This kind of behavior is unacceptable for a U.A. student! We could report you to the principal for sexual harassment toward a fellow student!”

“Iida!” Izuku turned to the taller boy. “Keep your voice down!” He quickly looked around to make sure that no other students were paying attention. They were situated near the corner of the cafeteria so that the celebrity in their group drew as little attention as possible. It seemed to have worked given that no one had approached them up until now.

“Midoriya!” Iida gave his friend a look of shock. “Surely you don’t condone such an act! Unless…” He put a hand to his chin. “Wait, are the two of you currently engaged in a romantic relationship?!”

Tokage burst out into a fit of laughter meanwhile the three girls at the table sent mean glances her way. Izuku on the other hand was mortified, not having been this blindsided by a question since he was accused of being All Might’s secret lovechild.

“Wha-of course not!” His face lit up red with embarrassment. “We’re just- I mean she’s- It’s not like that!”

Tokage only laughed more at the boy’s embarrassment.

“Was there something you needed, Tokage-san?” Todoroki asked as she stood up from her seat, her glare nearly as cold as her quirk.

“Oh yeah,” The fanged girl wiped a tear from her eye as her laughter died down. “I came over to collect Class B’s favorite chore boy. We need him for something.”

“You mean you guys are serious about this ‘servant for a month’ thing?” Uraraka frowned.

“Serious as a heart attack.”

“Kero, you can’t seriously expect him to keep up with his own work and do all of yours.”

“Not to worry, my amphibious sister -”

“You aren’t my sister.”

“We’re willing to work around our servant’s schedule to make sure he doesn’t fall behind. In fact, I’d be more than willing to show him a thing or two.” The lizard girl stated with a wink. “Now, about that job…” She trailed off before quickly pulling Izuku away.

As they darted off, Uraraka furrowed her brow and leaned toward Todoroki. She spoke softly, her eyes never leaving the two retreating figures.

“Not that there is a race for Deku and not that either of us would compete if there were… But Tokage cannot be allowed to win.”

Todoroki sat silently with a frown as frost began to form on her clenched right hand.

The retreating pair arrived at another table soon after, this one full of Class B students. More specifically, there was Hiryu Rin across from Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu, Pony Tsunotori across from Reiko Yanagi, and Jurota Shishida across from Shihai Kuroiro seated at the end. With Izuku and Tokage that made eight of them.

“Um, hi.” Izuku awkwardly raised his hand. “I heard you guys needed something?”

“All of us were talking and, as it turns out, none of us are really feeling the miso soup today. I’m thinking… yakitori? What about everyone else? Yakitori?”

“I could go for some tikka masala with naan.”

“Shrimp tempura.”

“Sweet and sour chicken.”

“Hamburger!”

“Squid ink pasta.”

“STEAK! STEAK! STEAK!”

Izuku’s eyes went wide.

“Got all that?” Tokage asked, turning to face the taller boy.

“Uh... One more time?” He asked, producing a pen and small notebook from his pocket.

Five minutes later, Izuku was delicately balancing seven different dishes on his arms while Lunch Rush watched nervously.

“You um, you sure you’ve got all that?” The cooking hero asked.

“Yeah… yeah, I’m good.” The boy nodded, taking slow steps as he walked back to Class B’s table where a heated discussion was taking place. Gently placing each plate down on the table, he took a step back to make sure that everything was correct. “Okay, here’s everyone’s orders. I hope-”

“Alright, settle an argument for us.” Tokage sat Izuku down in a chair before taking the one next to him, ignoring her food. “Horror movies. Which is better: The Exorcist or Jurassic Park?”

“Oh, I really don’t-” Izuku began but was cut off.

“Jurassic Park is not a horror franchise!” Yanagi argued. “It is science fiction that poorly masqueraded as horror until they abandoned the idea entirely and turned it into action-thriller. Any halfway decent horror movie knows that the more you can’t see, the scarier it is.”

“Oh, like I’m supposed to flinch at every little noise I hear on-screen? By that logic, why even make a movie in the first place?” Tokage countered. “It would be scarier to just sit at home and listen to the radiator!”

“You just can’t appreciate-”

“No, you can’t appreciate! Name ten movies scarier than Jurassic Park!”

“ Gladly! ”

Yanagi began to count off on her fingers as she began her list, Tokage meanwhile argued each point, further heating the debate. As they argued, Rin leaned over to Izuku and whispered in his ear.

“Set doesn’t actually care about winning the argument, she just likes to tease.” He explained. “It’s kind of her thing.”

“Doesn’t that seem kind of… mean?” Izuku whispered back.

“Nah.” The scaled boy shook his head. “Yanagi loves any chance she gets to talk about horror, but she’s a little shy about it. This is the easiest way to get her out of her shell. Set will concede the point eventually and buy her a snack afterward.”

Izuku turned back toward the girl in question, watching as she nodded along intently to the silver-haired girl who continued to list different horror movies and why they were superior to Tokage’s supposedly awful choice.

For such a social girl, Tokage was a surprisingly good listener. Izuku couldn’t help but recall their encounter at the mall and wondered if he had looked similar to how Yanagi did now when he was talking about quirks and heroes.

“Oh trust me, kid.” Banjo’s voice snickered. “You looked waaay dorkier.”

“Banjo!” Nana’s voice scolded the fifth user.

“Hello, everyone!” Anan Kurose greeted Class 3-A as they entered the training ground. “Congratulations on making it into your final year at U.A.! Welcome back to the Unforeseen Simulation Joint!”

“Thirteen!” From the group of students, Uraraka burst forth before wrapping her arms around Anan’s bulky costume. “I missed you!”

Over the past year, the Space Hero had taken the girl under her wing, becoming a sort of big sister figure to her. At least, that’s how Anan saw it. They patrolled together, did extra training, and Uraraka had even confided in her about her family’s financial situation, so Anan felt secure in saying that they were close.

“Hey there, space cadet! You know it’s only been a few weeks, right?” She asked as she returned the hug.

“I know, but I still missed you!” The brunette girl looked up with her big brown eyes and Anan felt her heart clutch in her chest.

‘Too cute!’

Looking up at the rest of the class as they finished entering the training ground, the teacher couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride in how much the students had grown. They were all taller now, most of them taller than Anan herself, and they were in much better shape than when they had first started out. Everyone had tweaked and updated their costume at least once, refining their looks to improve upon what was useful and discard what wasn’t.

It felt like only yesterday that they had all been standing here as fresh newbies, blissfully unaware of what laid ahead for them all. Anan’s body ached with the phantom pain of that day. Shaking her head, she turned her attention back to the present.

“Well, you’re all looking better than ever. I hope that means you’re ready to get back into the swing of things.”

“Bring it on!” Eijirou Kirishima yelled, pumping his fists.

“It’s been too long, I can’t wait!” Hanta Sero nodded his head in agreement.

“Revelry in the dark.” Fumikage Tokoyami muttered to himself.

“Love the enthusiasm everyone!” Anan gave the students a big thumbs up. “Today’s docket: Falling Practice.”

A sudden silence fell among the students.

“WHAT?!” Katsumi Bakugo yelled from the back. “ARE YOU f*ckING KIDDING ME?! WHAT’S WITH THIS AMATEUR sh*t?!”

“You’ve always gotta make sure you remember the fundamentals.” Anan reminded them. “Most of you probably haven’t practiced falling since your first year, so we’re long overdue for a review. We will be increasing the height and practicing several scenarios, but other than that, as long as you remember the basics, you should be fine.”

“And I shall be there to help!” An eloquent man’s voice called out from above.

To the students’ surprise, a shadowy cloaked figure suddenly dropped down from the sky next to their teacher. Doing several somersaults before landing, he spread out his arms like a gymnast completing their routine.

“I thought we agreed to cut the theatrics.” Anan whispered to the man.

“I apologize, however I simply had to make my entrance a grand one to mark this most wonderful occasion.” He replied, bowing with a hand to his chest.

“*sigh* Alright. Everyone, this is our new teaching assistant who will be helping us out with this lesson. His name is-”

“GENTLE?!” A voice suddenly cried out.

“Ah! Midoriya, dear lad! How wonderful that we meet once again, face-to-face that is.” The white-haired man smiled. “My goodness you’ve grown!”

“I-I don’t understand!” Midoriya was grinning as he walked up to meet the man. “You’re teaching now? How did that happen?”

“Oho! It’s quite a story! You see, after my imprisonment-”

“Ahem!” Anan loudly cleared her throat. “As I was saying, Tobita is here to make sure that nobody gets too hurt if things go wrong. We’ve gotten a lot of complaints from Recovery Girl about your class in particular.” From behind her helmet, the Space Hero glared at Midoriya. “And she says if we don’t start taking extra steps to ensure your safety, she’s going to make you all heal the old-fashioned way.”

“... Yes ma’am.” The green-haired boy looked down at the ground.

“Alrighty, now who’s ready to get started?” She asked.

Fifteen minutes later, the class was standing in the USJ’s Fire Zone at the top of a ‘burning’ building. Tobita was standing on the ground, ready to make an emergency catch if necessary.

Pulling out a cue card, Anan cleared her throat before speaking.

“Villain Attack! The first two floors are burning, the fire escape was destroyed, and the residents of this apartment complex have been forced to evacuate to the roof! Emergency services can’t get past the wall of flames and the building is going to collapse soon!” She lowered her cue card and looked out at the students. “Each hero needs to grab a civilian and reach the ground safely. Seventy percent of the grade is based on your civilian’s safe landing, the other thirty will be based on yours. Each of you has been assigned a partner, when I call your group, come up and get ready to make your jump.”

The students murmured amongst one another as they paired up with their assigned partner. When Anan called up the first group, they stepped up to the edge of the roof.

“Ready, Uraraka?” Midoriya asked, holding the girl in a bridal carry.

“Mhmm.” The brunette nodded eagerly, her cheeks burning.

“Hold on there, Romeo. Who said you were the hero in this scenario?” Anan stopped the pair. “Uraraka, switch with Midoriya. He’s the civilian.”

“Oh…” The green-haired boy looked down at the girl before looking back up at his teacher. “Sorry, uh… Force of habit.”

“No problem!” The girl replied excitedly. Standing up, she looked at Midoriya before awkwardly reaching out a hand and quickly tapping his side, causing the boy to begin to float. Grabbing him out of the air, she pulled the larger boy into her arms, hugging him like an oversized teddy bear. Taking a deep breath, she activated her quirk before turning to her teacher.

‘Thank. You.’ Uraraka mouthed to the woman as she jumped down.

Smiling to herself, Anan watched as the pair drifted down safely, earning a perfect score and a round of applause from Tobita.

“Next group: Bakugo and Todoroki!”

The two girls stepped up to the edge of the roof with the latter carrying the former in a fireman’s carry.

“Don’t worry ma’am,” Todoroki said, shifting the blonde’s weight on her shoulder. “I’ll get us both down safely.”

Bakugo crossed her arms, gritting her teeth.

“I. Hate . You.”

*Ring!* *Ring!*

As the last bell for the day dismissed Class B, Itsuka Kendo marched straight over to Setsuna Tokage before slamming her hands on her classmate’s desk.

“Girls, would you mind giving us a moment?” Itsuka turned to Reiko and Kinoko who had been chatting with the green-haired girl. “Set and I have some things to discuss.”

“Oooh! Someone’s in trooouble!” The mushroom girl teased.

“If you turn up dead when next we see you, I’ll make best efforts to contact you on the other side.” The ghost girl placed a pale hand on Setsuna’s shoulder.

When the duo exited the classroom, leaving the two girls alone, Itsuka looked back at Setsuna with a serious expression.

“Soooo…” Setsuna placed her elbows on her desk, resting her chin under one hand. “Is this an ‘I can’t believe what you’ve done this time’ conversation or an ‘I can’t live without you, please be mine forever’ conversation?”

“I know what you did.” Itsuka stated, crossing her arms.

“Ah dammit. And here I was hoping I had finally won you over with my feminine charms.” Setsuna leaned back in her chair, her arms behind her head. “So, what did ol’ Lizardy do this time?”

“Gonna make me work for it, huh?” Itsuka frowned. “Look, I know you tampered with the votes. I haven’t said anything to anyone yet, but-”

“Hold up.” Setsuna raised her hand. “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t play dumb, you switched the votes so that Midoriya would win.” Itsuka pointed an accusatory finger.

“Huh?” The green-haired girl’s expression was one of confusion, so the class representative elaborated.

“Alright fine, let’s do the math: Kirishima and Asui got one vote each, Todoroki got two, Bakugo got four, and Yaomomo got five. That’s thirteen so far.”

“I can do math.”

“Can you now? Then pray tell, how could Midoriya get the majority vote when only eighteen people voted? At most, he would have tied for first with five votes.”

“Huh? No, there were nineteen slips in the box. I remember because Ibara called me a venomous heathen and then went to bed early.”

“That would have been the case, except that my slip was blank when I turned it in.” Itsuka pointed out.

“What? No that can’t be… What?” The girl’s eyes widened. “Itsuka, I know how this looks, but I didn’t do anything to mess with the votes, I swear!”

Itsuka’s hardened expression cracked slightly. Setsuna seemed genuinely surprised by the news. The class rep felt that she knew the lizard girl pretty well by now, so she had a pretty good sense for when her friend was lying to her. But right now didn’t feel like one of those times.

“You… You really didn’t do it?”

“No! Midori’s cute and all, but you don’t break the sanctity of democracy for a guy .”

“But,” Itsuka was confused. “But then who did? Kodai? I know she has a thing for him, but how would she have even tampered with the votes in the first place?”

“She couldn’t have. The only people who touched the slips after the votes were me and…” Setsuna’s jaw suddenly dropped.

“What? Who was it?”

“Sonuvabitch.”

“Thank you for your help with this, Midoriya.” Reiko said as she finished adjusting the bonnet on one of her porcelain dolls. “I’ve been meaning to unpack but I just haven’t found the time.”

“Sure thing.” The green-haired boy said with a smile. “I’m glad I can help. Where did you want this?” He held up a tall package covered in bubble wrap.

“In the corner by the window. Here, let me help you.” The ghost girl walked over and grabbed the other end, briefly running her pale hands over his scarred ones by ‘accident.’ “Over here and… down.” They set down the package in the corner before Reiko took a step back and nodded her head.

The two of them had been organizing her room for the past twenty minutes now. Of course, with Poltergeist, the ghost-themed hero could have had the room done in a quarter of that time, but Midoriya didn’t need to know that. He also didn’t need to know how long she had spent finding something to wear before he came over. However based on the look he had given her when she first opened the door, it had been time well spent. The ol’ white tank top, black bra and short-shorts combo was as effective as ever.

Reiko hadn’t… developed much over the past year. She was the tallest girl in the class now, and she had grown out her hair, now reaching down to her shoulders, but she didn’t have much in the way of curves. Combine that with terrible posture, a croaky voice, and her general creepy aura… She wasn’t exactly working with a stacked deck here.

“So, what is that thing anyway? If you don’t mind me asking. It was heavier than I was expecting.” Midoriya asked, stepping back from the item he’d just carried in.

The boy had dressed expecting to sweat, having shed his school uniform beforehand for a pair of dark running shorts and blue t-shirt that was stretched to the max across his large pecs. Upon closer inspection, Reiko noticed the word ‘overalls’ scribbled in small writing on the front. He wore his ever-present compression sleeves beneath the shirt, but they did nothing to mask the size of his arms.

Back to the topic at hand, Reiko looked back at the package.

“This?” She pointed a finger before telekinetically unraveling the bubble wrap with her quirk. “This is Moore.”

“Agh!” Midoriya flinched as the large object was unveiled.

If the Villain War had taught Reiko one thing, it was that she was woefully unprepared for live combat. So, to boost her overall effectiveness, the ghost girl had a new support item built for herself that let her fight on equal footing with her classmates.

Moore was a six-foot tall puppet made to resemble a human skeleton. His ‘bones’ were made from a hyper durable ceramic and his knuckles were solid steel. Inside of his chest cavity were various medical supplies for field treatments and his eye sockets were UV lamps that could be used for investigative work. Using Poltergeist, Reiko could disassemble and reassemble him in twenty seconds flat, and all of his parts slipped comfortably over her hero costume, acting as a layer of armor when not in use.

He also had a nightmare face.

“Sorry.” Reiko apologized as she quickly covered the puppet once again. “I probably should have warned you before I… sorry.” She looked away ashamed.

“N-No it’s fine, it just *sigh* reminded me of a um, a bad dream is all.” Midoriya assured her, turning his attention to the rest of the room. “So you really like porcelain dolls, I take it? They don’t, y’know, creep you out at all?”

“They do. But I like that about them. I… like things other people find creepy.” Reiko nervously tapped her fingers together as her gaze shifted to Midoriya. “I do realize that makes me creepy by association, but I… can’t really help what I’m drawn to.”

All her life the story had been the same. First it was insects, then it was the dolls, then art, movies, clothes, Reiko loved things that others found creepy, scary, or otherwise off putting. It didn’t make her many friends in the real world, but she had found solace in meeting others through the internet who shared her tastes. Of course, internet friends couldn’t protect you from middle school bullies, so as far as anyone who knew Reiko in person, she was the creepy girl so pale and thin that she resembled a walking skeleton.

“I don’t think you’re creepy, Yanagi.” The boy interjected. “I totally get it, your whole setup here. Well, not entirely.” He admitted with a shrug. “But basically if you replaced every doll in here with an All Might action figure, it would pretty much be my room. So no, I wouldn’t say you’re creepy at all. You’re passionate.”

Reiko’s thin lips formed into a small smile. An excited noise escaped from her mouth which she quickly covered with her hands. What she couldn’t cover up however, were the tiny hops her feet were doing seemingly on their own. It was an odd sight to be sure, but Reiko was an odd girl.

Odd. But not creepy.

Calming herself down, she walked over to her bed before taking a seat on the side and crossing her legs. Gesturing for Midoriya to sit at her work desk across from, the boy complied and took a seat.

“M-My *ahem* My parents own a tailor shop and had a lot of dolls lying around, my mom liked to use them to try out new designs and I ended up liking them so I bought a few for myself and well…” She gestured around her. “It ended up like this. I sew them new outfits too but nothing really modern. Victorian-era dolls are the creepiest.”

“Oh yeah. You sewed Kendo-san’s dress for the beauty pageant didn’t you?” Midoriya inquired. “You did a great job with that.”

“I… dabble.” The silver-haired girl flushed in embarrassment before deciding to direct the conversation toward him. “So what do your parents do?”

Midoriya paused for a moment, his smile faltered and Reiko felt her stomach drop. However just as quickly as it disappeared, it reappeared again as though it had never left.

“My mom actually just got a new job this year, she’s a career counselor. Basically if someone needs advice on what they want to do with their life, she helps them find a good fit. From what she’s told me, it’s a great job for her and due to err, recent events , they definitely have no shortage of clients.”

“...”

“She also helps out at the local soup kitchen when she can. Besides that she mostly spends her free time either watching soap operas or worrying about me, haha.” He laughed but Reiko could tell it was forced.

“T-That’s nice.” She smiled. “She sounds like a very kind woman.”

Reiko was no social butterfly, but even she could tell she had hit a nerve there. Whatever the deal was with Midoriya’s father, it was clearly not something he wished to discuss.

“Well,” Izuku stood up. “I should probably get going. I’ve got a lot of studying to do if I want to catch up with everyone. Thanks for having me over, Yanagi-san.”

“Um, yeah. T-Thank you for your help.”

This wasn’t the plan. This was supposed to go on for at least another hour, she would invite him to stay and watch a horror movie together, then when she got ‘scared’ in the middle of the movie, she would cling to him for safety and then… Okay maybe it was less of a plan than it was a fantasy, but she had gotten this far, hadn’t she?

As Midoriya reached for the doorknob, he was taken aback when the door suddenly burst open to reveal Setsuna and Kendo standing on the other side, both looking less than happy.

“Reiko! I know what you-oh.” Kendo paused. “Hi Midoriya, um… fancy meeting you hear.”

“Uh yeah. Hi, Kendo-san. Tokage-san.” The boy gave an awkward wave. “Did you… need to talk with Yanagi-san?”

“Y-Yeah um, yes!” Kendo nodded her head. “We needed to talk about-”

“About important girl stuff!” Setsuna quickly spoke up, interrupting the class representative. “You know, lady parts and all that comes with them. You’re welcome to stay and chat too!”

Even from back where she was sitting, Reiko could see the blood drain from Midoriya’s face.

“I-I’ll just be going then! Have a good evening!” The green-haired boy couldn’t have exited the room faster even if he were using his quirks at full power.

With that settled, Setsuna slammed the door shut before she and Kendo walked up to the bed, standing over Reiko with crossed arms and disappointed glares.

“Well, I see you haven’t wasted any time.” Setsuna said, looking back at the door before facing Reiko again. “Enjoying Midoriya’s services are we?”

“H-He was just helping me move my stuff in.” Reiko protested.

“Riiight.” The lizard girl nodded, a devious grin forming on her face as she took a seat next to Reiko on the bed. Across from them, Kendo flipped the desk chair around and rested her arms on the backrest.

“Is there something I can help you with?” The ghost girl raised an eyebrow.

“We just stopped by to have a little chat, catch up, maybe air any dirty laundry that might still be hanging out.”

“What are you-?”

“We know you tampered with the votes, Yanagi.” Kendo finally spoke. “Last night when we all voted on the servant, you snuck in an extra vote so that Midoriya would win the majority. Set only got to tally them after you collected the slips from everyone. So you were the only one who had the opportunity to change them.”

“I…” Reiko began, but struggled to speak any further.

“We just want to know why.” Setsuna clarified. “I mean, I think I know why, I just want to be sure.” She placed a comforting hand on Reiko’s leg. “We aren’t going to tell Midoriya, we just-”

“Wait. What do you mean, we aren’t going to tell Midoriya?” Kendo turned to the green-haired girl.

“Well, I mean he seems happy enough to help us out. He gets to be a big strong man for us, and in return we get our stuff taken care of.” Setsuna pointed out. “It works out for everyone, so why stop now?”

“We’re lying to him about this whole thing! An incredibly stupid thing to begin with!” Kendo argued. “Midoriya can’t say no to anyone, and you’re abusing his trust in us as classmates! If we keep lying to him about this, then we might as well have rigged the vote ourselves!”

“Oh really?” The lizard girl turned to the class rep. “I didn’t hear you rushing to tell him the truth before he left.”

“You cut me off before I could!”

“And yet you didn’t tell him even after I did. I suspect you were distracted by his big pecs in your face? I know I was.”

“... Shiozaki was right.” Kendo furrowed her brow. “You are a venomous heathen.”

“You two seem like you have a lot to talk about.” Reiko stood up. “I’ll just-”

“Oh no you don’t.” Both the other girls spoke in unison.

“We still have a lot we need to discuss.” Setsuna reminded her, grabbing Reiko by the wrist with a disembodied hand.

“Okay, I like Midoriya, alright?” The ghost girl ripped the hand away, causing it to float back to its user. “He’s cute and he’s spooky and he’s… nice to me.”

“Reiko…” Kendo said softly, her eyes sad.

“I saw an opportunity to actually talk to him and I took it. I know he’s world famous and I know I don’t stand a chance but I… I would regret it if I never even tried.”

“...”

“...”

“Damn, Rei.” Setsuna leaned back on her arms. “You really-”

“I don’t want to hear it, Tokage .” Reiko sneered. “I am not in the mood for any more of your teasing right now.”

“What? I wasn’t gonna…” Setsuna looked between Kendo and Reiko, both of whom were shooting her disapproving glares. Her expression drooping she looked down and remained silent.

In her place, Kendo stood up and met Reiko’s gaze.

“Look, whatever you feel is up to you, but don’t you find this… unfair to Midoriya? Shouldn’t a relationship be built on honesty?”

“ Life is unfair.” Reiko shot back. “Some of us have to play dirty if we ever want to compete. But I wouldn’t expect you to understand that, Miss Private Academy Beauty Pageant .”

In response, Kendo stepped back, shocked at her classmates’ sudden outburst.

Reiko felt terrible as soon as the words came out, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t meant them. Kendo and Setsuna… they didn’t understand. They were beautiful, strong, social, and popular. They didn’t know how cruel others could be when you were different. And here they had the gaul to call out Reiko as if they were on a level playing field. It made her so frustrated!

She wasn’t proud of what she had done, not by a long shot, but it was necessary if she ever wanted to be more than a character standing in the background of someone else’s story.

Hanging her head down, Reiko pointed to the door.

“Could you please just leave now?”

The two uninvited guests exchanged sad looks with one another, but both decided to comply and moved to leave. When they exited the room, Kendo turned to say one final thing only for Reiko to telekinetically slam the door in her face. Collapsing onto her bed, the silver-haired girl grabbed a pillow and squeezed it to her chest.

Why were feelings so scary?

Chapter 6: It's My Party And I'll Cry If I Want To

Chapter Text

“Happy birthday, Katsumi!” The voices of Mitsuki and Masaru Bakugo sounded through the phone. The couple were squeezed together to fit into the frame of the video call.

“Yeah. Thanks or whatever.” Katsumi rolled her eyes at the two.

The blonde was still lying in her bed, which was a bit unusual for her, even if it was barely dawn outside. Katsumi was anything but lazy, typically making the most of every hour of the day. And yet right now, she could scarcely find the strength to leave her bed.

“Eighteen already!” Mitsuki exclaimed. “My god, where does the time go? Old enough to drive now, next thing you know we’ll be grandparents and your father will be a wrinkly old man! I’ll still look fantastic though.”

“Sorry we can’t be there in person, honey.” Masaru apologized to his daughter. “We asked the school, but with the semester already started-”

“S’fine, I get it. No point in traveling all that way to say something you could just say over the phone.” She waved off her parents’ apology, her eyes unfocused as she stared at the wall of her room. The curtains were drawn and the lights were off, so only the faint glow of Katsumi’s phone illuminated the room.

“So… anything exciting planned for the day?”

“...”

“Is everything alright, Katsumi? You seem distracted.” The girl’s father asked.

“There had better not be a boy in your room!” Her mother chided her. “And if there is, it had better be Izuku! Izuku? Are you there, sweetie? It’s your Auntie-”

“Nobody’s here but me, ya damn hag!”

“So then what’s the matter?” Mitsuki pressed the matter. “You’re too damn young to be sad about your birthday!”

“It’s nothing dammit! Look, I gotta go!” Katsumi moved to press the end call button but paused, her finger an inch away from the screen. “I… I love you guys .” She muttered quickly.

“We love you t-” Katsumi quickly cut off the call before they could finish.

“Ugh.” She rolled over in bed, climbing out from under the covers and onto the floor, crawling over to her dresser like a slug.

Fixing her hair in the mirror, the blonde paused to examine her face. She had never considered herself a very pretty girl. In middle school she had been lauded for her academic success and powerful quirk, but never for her looks. Her battles with Shigaraki and All for One hadn’t exactly done her any favors on that front, leaving half of her face a bloody pulp and her arm dangling off her body by a thread. Still, she had recovered well enough, even if there was a patch of skin on her face here and there that was slightly off color and a large surgical scar where her arm had to be reattached.

Hey, at least she looked better than Endeavor.

“Bakugo?” A girl’s voice called from the other side of the girl’s door. “Are you in there?”

“What the f*ck do you want , Icy-Hot?” Katsumi yelled back at the girl.

“The others sent me to get you. They’re having a surprise party for you in the kitchen.”

“If it’s a surprise party, then why the f*ck are you telling me?! ”

“Oh.” Todoroki’s voice was quiet on the other side of the door. “... Come down when you’re ready.”

Katsumi rolled her eyes. How she ever found this idiot threatening was beyond her. Regardless, she began to strip from her pajamas before putting on her school uniform. She still didn’t care for the tie, and the staff didn’t seem to care much either, so she decided to forgo it, tying her school jacket around her waist in the process.

Stepping out of her room and down the stairs, she could hear the others talking amongst themselves, as lively as ever. It was strange how accustomed Katsumi had grown to living at U.A. She had always been on her own, never needing or even wanting the company of others, but now the thought of leaving this place and these people in less than a year caused a pit to form in her stomach. U.A. had always just been a stepping stone on her way to the top, but now it was her home , and the people here were her family .

And Katsumi wasn’t ready for that to be over.

“Best food?” One of the boys asked.

“Italy was great.” Izuku’s voice answered. “Oh, but so was Greece. Also France. And-”

“Geez, pick one dude.” Kaminari whined.

“How about the best beaches?” Hagakure’s high-pitched voice asked.

“I… didn’t really visit the beach. B-But I heard there was a great one in Portugal!”

“Hottest babes? OW!”

“Mineta!”

“Sorry! Hottest women? ”

“Ugh.”

“There she is!” One of the boys spotted Katsumi as she walked down the steps.

“Happy birthday, Bakubro!” Kirishima grinned widely as the blonde reached the bottom of the steps, running over to wrap her in a bear hug. The redhead had grown over the past year, now standing a head taller than Katsumi herself and his bulk put even Deku to shame.

The boy was a hugger and Katsumi would be lying if she said she didn’t enjoy that about the big musclehead, (not that she’d ever admit it) so she let him embrace her for a few moments before pushing him away. She wasn’t too worried about hurting Kirishima’s feelings, they knew each other well enough by now, and Katsumi knew that his interests laid… elsewhere .

“Alright, alright! Let go a’ me ya big lughead!” The blonde pushed out of the boy’s massive arms. “Geez, tryin’ ta kill me?”

“Oh come on, Bakugo it wouldn’t kill you to be a little nice.” Uraraka chided the girl. “We did organize this nice thing for you.” The brunette’s jab seemed playful, but there was a bit of an edge to her words.

“Tch, as if I f*cking asked you to!”

“Even so…”

“Ah you know how she is, ‘Chako. Yelling is just how she expresses her love for us.” Ashido laughed, moving in between the two as she wrapped an arm around each of their shoulders.

“Well in that case, she must really love Midoriya!” Sero chimed in.

“WOULD YOU ALL SHUT THE f*ck UP?!”

The other students of Class 3-A could only smile and laugh as their resident hothead blushed furiously.

The rest of the class had put together a modest but kind display for her, complete with colorful streamers, a banner, and at least a dozen balloons. As the rest of the class turned to look behind her, Katsumi spun around to see Izuku walking toward her with a small chocolate cake in hand, two lit candles shaped like the number eighteen sat on top of it.

“~Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you.~” The rest of the class sang, causing the girl to roll her eyes but smile slightly.

“~Happy birthday to Kacchan!~” Izuku smiled and Katsumi felt her face heat up.

“~Happy birthday to you!~”

“So, does ‘ Ms. Birthday Queen’ wanna tell us what her wish was?” Ashido asked, leaning her face in way too close for Katsumi’s comfort.

“Wish? What are you, five?” The girl in question scoffed.

“Alright, old lady , keep your secrets.” The pink girl puffed up her cheeks and crossed her arms, pouting.

The majority of the class were making their way toward the school building on foot. The sky was completely clear and the sun was shining overhead, there was a slight chill in the breeze as the last dregs of winter died out. Katsumi regretted tying her jacket to her waist but was too proud to go back on it now.

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t U.A. 's second best hero class.” A male voice cut across the air.

A shiver ran down Katsumi’s spine.

Class 3-B approached their peers from the side as the paths from their dorms converged, the two swaths of students joining into one as they neared U.A. 's immense main building.

“Oh Midoriya! ” Neito Monoma grinned evilly, pulling his bag from his back. “My bag is feeling awfully heavy this morning. Carry it for me, would you?” He turned to face his nearest classmate. “Pony, weren’t you complaining about yours as well?”

“Hmm? Oh, yes! Here you go, thank you Midoriya!” The hooved girl smiled, handing the taller boy her messenger bag.

“Don’t thank him, it diminishes the point!” The blond boy quickly whispered to her.

“Oh, alright.” Izuku shrugged before reaching out to grab the bags only for Katsumi to push him out of the way, standing between the two classes.

“f*ck! No!” She growled at the other two students. “You aren’t doing this sh*t today!”

“Oh? But it’s only been a week since you all lost the bet. Are you saying that your class doesn’t follow through on their promises?”

“Kacchan, it’s fine.” Izuku assured the girl. “You don’t have to-”

“No! I’m sick of all the sh*t that this asshole is constantly spewing.” Katsumi barked back. Behind her, Kaminari and Ashido stifled a laugh. “Leave Deku the f*ck alone.”

“And now we see the true face behind the fabled Class A!” Monoma spouted, turning to the rest of his classmates. “Everything is fair game until it doesn’t work out in their favor, then it becomes distasteful. How arrogant! Are we really going to let them set the rules of warfare?”

“Warfare?” Jirou gave the boy a skeptical look.

“Dude, chill out.” Kirishima stepped forward from the crowd. “Maybe, just for today, give Midoriya a break. He’s been doing plenty for you guys the past week and dude’s already got enough on his plate as it is. I think he’s earned it.”

The rest of Class B began murmuring amongst themselves but before anyone else could, Monoma spoke up again.

“Don’t let them weasel their way out of responsibility! We’re all heroes in training for goodness sake! Are you going to let every villain get away with their crimes if they give you a half-hearted sob story?” The boy countered. “Don’t fall for such a thing!”

“Oh come on, man. Be reasonable.”

“Reasonable? Reasonable?! So now anyone who doesn’t agree with you is unreasonable?!” Monoma laughed. “Look! Look how they-”

“Kacchan, no!”

*BOOM!*

“So,” Aizawa sat at his desk, shuffling through a stack of papers. “We’re back to this now, are we?”

Katsumi aggressively tapped the top of her desk with a pencil as she watched the clock on the wall tick away the time at an impossibly slow pace.

“Mr. Aizawa, may I just say-” Monoma raised his hand.

“No.” The raven-haired man shook his head. “Unless you need to go see the nurse again, I think you’ve said enough, Monoma.”

“...”

The three of them were sitting in an otherwise empty classroom in the middle of the day. The rest of classes A and B were running a combat exercise in Ground Beta, something along the lines of Capture the Flag, meanwhile both class’s blonde troublemakers were stuck here in detention, assisting Aizawa with his own punishment courtesy of Principal Nezu. Paperwork. Lots and lots of paperwork.

“I’m disappointed with both of you.” The teacher continued. “After the role you both played in the battle against Shigaraki, I had really hoped that you had grown past these… antics of yours.” He sighed. “You’re nearly full-fledged heroes at this point, and if something like this were to happen in public, it wouldn’t mean a detention, it would mean a scandal . The media would eat you alive, the public would lose faith in you, and you might even have your license revoked. Do you understand why this kind of behavior is unacceptable for heroes?”

“... Yes sir.” Katsumi replied quietly.

“Good. Now make sure that you’re double-checking the student housing forms, the students needed to put their signature on each box, not just the last one.”

“Do I look like I…?” She began before pausing and putting her head back down. “Yes sir .”

They continued silently sorting through each students’ documentation for what seemed life forever before Aizawa excused himself to use the restroom, shooting the pair a threatening glare as he exited the classroom.

Katsumi looked up at the clock and sighed, seeing that less than thirty minutes had passed since they had begun. She stood up to place her stack of papers on the front desk, grabbing another stack before walking back to her desk to continue her work.

“My right ear is still ringing, you know.” Monoma spoke up, turning around to face the girl. He had chosen to sit in the front row while Katsumi stayed in the back.

“...”

“It could be permanent hearing loss.”

“...”

“Perhaps I’ll need a hearing aid. Any good recommendations?”

“What the f*ck do you want, Copycat?” Katsumi finally relented, her patience rapidly dropping.

“Only making idle conversation, it helps pass the time.”

“...”

“I couldn’t help but notice that you were angered on Midoriya’s behalf this time around. Is that a more recent development or something in the works for some time now?”

“...” The girl narrowed her eyes, staring down at her papers.

“Tell me, is your love-hate relationship more love-based or hate-based?”

“Rrrgh!” Katsumi gritted her teeth, the pencil in her hand cracked under her tightened grip.

“You were his childhood bully, weren’t you?” Monoma smiled evilly. “I can’t help but wonder just how many of those scars he’s hiding were from you .”

*Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*

Katsumi grabbed her desk and raised it over her head, ready to chuck the entire thing at Monoma’s head.

“Waitwaitwaitwait!” The boy raised a defensive hand in vain.

“BAKUGO!” Aizawa’s voice stopped Katsumi in her tracks, his one glowing red eye staring her down. “Principal’s office. NOW!”

*Clang!*

Sneering, Katsumi dropped the desk, letting it hit the floor without a care as she marched to the front of the room. Before she exited the room however, her orange eyes swiveled back to Monoma one final time and she clenched her fists angrily.

“Mr. Aizawa, thank you!” The boy let out a sigh of relief. “I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t shown up! T-That, that monster of a-”

“Don’t pretend like you’re innocent in any of this either, Monoma. You’ll be seeing the principal as well. After you finish your’s and Bakugo’s share of work.”

“Y-Yes sir.”

“You doing alright, Midoriya?”

“Hmm? Oh, y-yeah, I’m good. Thanks for asking, Hagakure.” Izuku smiled at the invisible girl.

“Bakugo’s going to be fine. Not the first time she’s gotten detention.” Hagakure reasoned before patting the boy on the head with a gloved hand. “Focus up, we need that big brain of yours to come up with a plan. From what I saw, Red Team has most of their team playing defense, no doubt because of you.”

“They have some real powerhouses on their side, if it comes down to it, I’m not entirely confident I can take them all down.”

“Tetsutetsu, Kaminari, and Bondo were already captured, so as far as our offensive force goes, it's just us. I think Jirou is coordinating attacks with Shiozaki. Some vines came straight out of the ground and almost caught me on the way over here.”

“Okay, then I should be able to throw her off our trail using Blackwhip, if I double that with Smokescreen maybeIcancauseenoughconfusionand-nothatwouldn’tworkwhatifI-”

“Midoriya?”

“Huh? Oh right, sorry.” Izuku paused for a moment before meeting the girl’s gaze once again. Or at least the best he could.

Hagakure’s outfit had changed in the time Izuku had been gone, namely that now it was an outfit rather than shoes and gloves. Given that she could turn other objects invisible with relative ease at this point, she didn’t have to run around in her birthday suit anymore. Now she wore an indigo-colored jumpsuit that clung to her (shapely) form and ended around the mid-thigh, upper arm, and neck, giving a better sense of where her extremities lay. Her gloves had gotten an upgrade too, now sporting more advanced tech that reminded Izuku of Aoyama’s belt.

Both she and Izuku were wearing yellow cloth bands around their arms, designating their own team color. Things got a little confusing when teams were made up of both classes.

“Okay, I’ve got… something in mind.” The green-haired boy admitted. “I’ll create a distraction and try to get in close, they don’t really have any brawlers on their side so they’ll try to keep me away from the goal. I’ll take care of Shiozaki, that should reduce your chances of capture. They may leave someone guarding the flag in reserve for you, think you can handle it?”

“Don’t worry about me, Midoriya. I’ve got a trick or two up my sleeve.”

“Alright then, let’s do it.” Izuku nodded.

A few moments later at the Red Team base, the defensive squad stood watch. Working together, the trio of Todoroki, Yaoyorozu, and Shiozaki had created a nigh-impenetrable fortress of ice, metal, and vines around their flag which would hopefully buy them at least a few seconds against the unstoppable wrecking ball that was Izuku Midoriya. He was by far their biggest threat, so most of their plans revolved around stopping him.

So when a storm of Blackwhip rained down onto their base camp from above, they were ready for action in an instant. Aiming their attacks to the sky, they prepared to fire.

“Manchester!” All of the Blackwhip lines suddenly grew taut. “SMASH!”

*THWOOM!*

Izuku crashed into the street, creating a large crater in the concrete. Looking up, he saw Todoroki already aiming a blast of fire at him, so he quickly dashed out of the way and targeted the biggest threat to his plan.

Shiozaki.

The vine-haired girl’s eyes lit up in alarm as she saw the sparking green speedster rapidly approaching. Quickly throwing up a wall of vines, it meant nothing as Izuku sliced right through them with a lightning fast swing of his hand. Before she could even move her arm, Izuku snatched her armband away from her and a buzzer rang out.

“Red Team: Vine. Eliminated.”

Before the announcement even finished, a wall of fire flared up where Izuku had been standing a moment earlier. Just as soon as he evaded, Danger Sense flared and Izuku felt something hit him in the back like a bullet.

“Ack!” He winced in pain, looking down he saw a small rubber ball bouncing on the ground.

“Sniper!” Nana warned in Izuku’s mind.

“I noticed!” Izuku thought back to him. “It must be Shoda! I can’t see him though! Gah, I need to hurry and put a hole in that fortress so Hagakure can-”

Before he could complete his thought, frost had already encased Izuku’s feet.

“Everyone look out!” Jirou called out. “Invisible Girl!” The Hearing Hero had her jacks plugged into the ground. Dammit. There goes the plan.

“I’m on it!” Yaoyorozu called out, instantly forming a shoulder mounted cannon.

“Warp Refraction!” Hagakure’s voice called out, firing off a blast of light that blinded everyone present. But that wasn’t all she had prepared. "Doppler-ganger!"

As Izuku’s sight returned, he saw at least a dozen copies of a girl he’d never seen before running around the enemy base, firing off colorful lasers, causing mass confusion. One of the girls ran straight up to Izuku before giving him a wink.

“H-Hagakure?!” The boy was stunned.

“Told you I had tricks.” She smiled before aiming her hands down at his feet, melting the ice with a rainbow beam.

“They’re just holograms!” Todoroki called out, swatting away one of the clones which instantly dissolved into sparkles. “That’s the real one!”

“Transmission!” Izuku called out, moving his hands to shift into Second Gear.

Disappearing in an instant, Todoroki’s fire and ice were blown away as the girl was suddenly swept off her feet and slammed against a wall. Her armband was already gone before they stopped.

“Red Team: Shoko. Eliminated.”

Letting out a breath, Izuku took a second to turn to the girl he’d just captured. Realizing his forearm was pinning her breasts, he quickly moved it away, embarrassed.

“You okay?” Izuku asked.

“I’m okay.” She nodded.

“Okay.” He nodded before disappearing in a flash of green.

Taking to the rooftops, Izuku scanned the rooftops before spotting movement a few blocks away. Nirengeki Shoda was desperately trying to relocate, but in doing so had completely given himself away. Izuku was on him in an instant. The silver-haired boy attempted to fire off a few more rubber bullets, but with his speed, Izuku caught them all before they could ever reach him. Dropping the spent rounds to the ground, Izuku met Shoda’s gaze with his own.

“Had to try.” He shrugged before Izuku took a step forward. “Not in the face! Not in the face!” The boy pleaded, but Izuku had already dashed past him and grabbed his armband, dropping it as he zipped to the edge of the roof.

“Red Team: Mines. Eliminated.”

“Phew.” The shorter boy breathed a sigh of relief.

“Two more.” Izuku muttered to himself, looking down below.

Yaoyorozu had created a large shield that was blocking a stream of violet light emanating from Hagakure’s gloves. Just when it looked like the invisible girl was about to overpower the Creation user, the former was blasted by a wall of sound courtesy of Jirou.

“Gah!” The form of Hagakure collapsed in pain, covering her ears tightly.

Izuku appeared on the ground an instant later, a look of fury in his eyes. Seeing him suddenly appear in front of her, Jirou’s eyes widened and she took a shaky step back. Without a word, the One for All user raised a hand and sent Blackwhip shooting out at the girl. Jirou didn’t even have a chance to cry out before she was engulfed in darkness and pinned to a wall, her arms, legs, mouth and jacks restrained, and her armband stolen.

“Red Team: Earphone Jack. Eliminated.”

When Izuku released her, Jirou didn’t even make a sound, her back slid down the wall and she landed on her butt. Her eyes were wide and unfocused.

“Midoriya!” Hagakure’s voice cried out from behind the boy. “Help!”

“Hagaku-!” Izuku whipped his head around, only to suddenly be frozen in place. His mind felt heavy, like a sudden fog had rolled in inside his head.

“Sleep.” A voice commanded him.

Izuku felt… tired. His eyelids were growing… heavy.

“sh*t! Hang on kid, I’ll free you!” Banjo acted quickly, a Blackwhip tendril rising up to slap the boy.

“Gold Team: Deku. Eliminated.”

By the time Izuku snapped out of the trance, there was already a lavender-haired figure in black standing before him, his yellow armband clutched in her hand.

“Phew.” Hitomi Shinso breathed a sigh of relief as she placed her hands to her knees. “You break out of that way too fast, Midoriya.”

“Not fast enough apparently.” He replied. “I thought you were with the attacking force, so I figured I was safe. Well played, Shinso.”

“Thanks.” The girl responded.

At a glance, it was fairly easy to see the Eraserhead influence in the girl’s costume, a baggy black sweatsuit with little in the way of decoration besides white leather boots and the addition of mesh here and there. Shinso had altered the costume a bit since the war, namely tweaking the capture scarf around her neck into a thinner variant closer to ribbons. As she twirled them around her fingertips, she vaguely resembled a puppeteer adjusting their strings.

“You sure put a dent in our team.” The Brainwash user remarked, adjusting her mask. “But with you out of the way, my job gets a lot easier.”

“Well, maybe not too easy.”

“Red Team: Marionette. Eliminated.”

“Wha-?!”

“Sorry!” A floating glove held up Shinso’s armband before the rest of Hagakure’s costume appeared. “But maybe next time don’t get distracted talking to a corpse.”

“Oof.” Izuku winced. “Sorry, Shinso.”

“All eliminated players, a reminder to please report back to the viewing platform. Both flags are still in play and both sides have players remaining. The match continues.”

“Goddammit.” The lavender-haired girl facepalmed. “Aizawa’s never gonna let me hear the end of this.”

“That was amazing, Midoriya!” Tooru bounced excitedly. “I couldn’t even keep track of you, you were moving so fast. You were unstoppable out there!”

After the exercise ended and the teams were called back to the viewing platform, Tooru Hagakure stood with the rest of the class in front of the massive wall of monitors as the next two teams began their turn. Seeing as nothing was really happening yet, the invisible girl didn’t see the harm in some idle conversation.

“Uh… he kinda did get stopped though. In case you hadn’t noticed.” Kaminari pointed out.

“We still won!” The invisible girl argued back. “No thanks to you, Mr. Captured-In-The-First-Five-Minutes!”

“Yeah…” The electric blond hung his head solemnly before walking away. “Point taken.”

“I think you were the amazing one out there, Hagakure!” Izuku smiled, finally looking up from his notes that he’d been jotting down at ludicrous speed. “You’ve learned to do more with your powers than I ever imagined! Holographic duplicates?! Concussive beams?! You were incredible!”

“The beams are actually from the gloves, I just kinda aim and focus them a bit.” Tooru admitted bashfully, but in her chest she felt nothing but pure elation. “As for Doppler-ganger, I… I actually got the idea from my training with you. Once I could finally bend the light right enough to make myself visible, I figured… why stop at one, y’know? They um, aren’t entirely convincing though, since they can’t really touch things or even make any noise. Really they’re only good for a short distraction.”

“I think you’re downplaying just how massive of an achievement this is!” Midoriya exclaimed. “I could tell just from briefly seeing them in action how much time and effort you must’ve poured into that technique. You’ve already far exceeded anything I could have imagined for you.”

“Oh, Midori… That isn’t true.” Tooru waved off the compliment, a blush forming on her invisible cheeks.

“I’m serious.” The boy insisted, giving her a warm smile and placing a supportive hand on her shoulder. “You’re amazing.”

Looking around, Tooru saw that nobody was paying them much mind, instead they were more focused on the beginning of the next match.

“And what did you think?” She asked in a quiet voice. Her face shimmered back into view. “Of… me?”

Midoriya seemed caught off guard, his eyes widening as he took in her pale skin, kaleidoscopic hair, and rainbow eyes.

“You um, y-you’re very beautiful, Hagakure.”

The girl could barely contain her massive grin.

Best. Day. EVER!

Detention was certainly one way to spend a birthday, not that Katsumi cared much anyway. Celebrations were for kids, it just so happened that the girl lived with nineteen of them.

Making her way back to the dorms, the blonde saw that the sun was already on the horizon, turning the sky a golden-orange color. The weather had been nice today, it was just a shame that Katsumi hadn’t gotten to enjoy it, seeing as how between looking over stupid housing forms and listening to the damn rat drone on about the importance of discipline and self control in heroes, she had barely even looked outside today.

Without intending to, Katsumi found herself wondering about how Izuku and the others were spending their day. Probably doing something actually productive with their time while she wasted away at a desk. All because that stupid Copycat couldn’t keep to himself!

Katsumi knew she had anger issues, it was something she wanted… needed to work on if she ever wanted to be a pro hero. What’s more, she needed to deal with all this anger inside of her, to be normal , if she ever wanted a chance at-

“Kacchan!” Izuku called out to the girl from the front porch, waving as he ran over to him.

“D-Deku?” Katsumi’s eyes widened in surprise. “What are you-?”

“You weren’t here when we got back from classes, I was worried.” He admitted with a bashful grin. “I was this close to going to the principal and demanding that he let you go.”

“You were not .” Katsumi sneered. “You’ve never demanded anything in your life.”

Stop.

“I-I have!” Izuku protested, but the girl simply waved him off. “I… hope it wasn’t too bad. I know your last birthday wasn’t-”

“Shaddup! You’re the only one who cares about that kinda crap!”

Dammit.

“Kacchan…”

“Look, can we just go inside already? I’m f*ckin’ dying of boredom out here!”

Tell him how you really feel!

“R-Right.” Izuku nodded. “Let’s go inside then. There should still be some cake leftover from this morning. I-If you want it, that is.”

“Tch, whatever.”

What is wrong with you?!

Katsumi hated that their conversations always ended up like this. Him reaching out an olive branch and her violently smacking it away. Why was she so damn afraid of being honest with him? And why did that fear manifest itself as anger toward the one person she cared for more than anyone else?

Maybe Monoma had been onto something earlier.

Maybe she was just a monster.

PAST

Music blasted through Katsumi Bakugo’s headphones as she unscrewed the outer shell of her gauntlet, grabbing a rag to wipe away any remaining dust particles inside.

She knew their design inside and out by now, practically able to disassemble and reassemble them in her sleep. Only an idiot wouldn’t be sure to maintain their own equipment. This felt like her third… possibly fourth time examining all of the individual components that night. Katsumi told herself that it was to make sure that everything she had was in working order, but she knew in reality it just kept her mind off of thinking about tomorrow.

And it was working to some degree. She was more or less absorbed in her work, making sure that everything was operating at peak performance. She didn’t dare to tamper with her new support gear however. Too risky. Katsumi would just have to trust that crazy mechanic girl’s expertise. Deku trusted her for a reason, right?

As if on cue, the green-haired boy stepped into Katsumi’s line of sight, having just finished washing the dishes in the kitchen sink with Roundface. Evidently, being humanity’s beacon of hope in their darkest hour didn’t supercede the authority of the chore wheel.

“So, tomorrow’s the big day huh, Kacchan?” Izuku said, awkwardly fumbling with his hands as he approached the blonde.

“Yeah.” The girl in question replied as she looked over the separated pieces of her grenade gauntlet spread out over the coffee table.

“You nervous at all?”

“The f*ck do you want, De-*ahem* Izuku?” Katsumi cleared her throat, trying to cover her mistake.

“You can keep calling me Deku if you want, Kacchan. It is my hero name after all, hehe.”

Katsumi rolled her eyes as she put down her screwdriver.

“What is it?” She asked less angrily this time. “You ain’t here for small talk, that much is obvious. So what is it that you want?”

Izuku sighed, looking around to make sure nobody else was listening. Sure enough, everyone else in the class was busy elsewhere. Satou had made a grandiose multilayered cake that had most of them distracted, the few who weren’t partaking were instead socializing around the common room.

Their temporary living space, Troy, may have been hastily constructed, but it was by no means lacking in comfort. Built nearly to spec with Heights Alliance back at U.A., the area was familiar enough to the students that they felt at home in the new building. Despite this however, it still felt different in a way that was hard to explain.

“Can… Could we talk outside? I-If you don’t mind.” Izuku quickly added.

“Huh?” Katsumi looked Izuku over, reading his body language.

He was shifting around on his feet, his eyes darting around everywhere but her face, and he wouldn’t stop fiddling with his hands. He was nervous. More nervous than she had seen him in a long time, probably since before he got One for All.

His nervousness made her nervous. What was he so anxious about? What did it have to do with her? Why was her heart beginning to race all of the sudden?

“Tch, fine.” She said reluctantly, gritting her teeth as she set down her screwdriver and stood up, brushing off her uniform’s skirt. Katsumi hated skirts. It was why she always wore leggings beneath them. She and Roundface had that much in common.

Well… that and one other thing.

The blonde shook her head to clear away her stray thoughts, following Izuku as the two stepped out the front door. As they left, she saw the brunette in question eyeing the two of them curiously, a look of worry apparent in her eyes. Izuku didn’t see her, too focused on the task at hand to notice. Unsure of what to do, Katsumi simply turned away to follow after the boy, shutting the front door behind her.

They walked in silence for a bit, finding a nearby tree that was out of earshot and away from sight in case anyone got curious about what they were doing.

What were they doing? Katsumi couldn’t help but wonder, her heart picking up pace with each step. What was so sensitive that warranted stepping this far out of the safety of Troy for?

“Um… s-sorry for, y’know, the sudden ominous meeting and stuff.” Izuku finally spoke, resting his scarred hand on the tree in front of him, his head facing away from Katsumi. “I just… I wasn’t sure how to… how to… god, this is really hard!”

He thumped his head against the tree, as though he were trying to bash away his inhibitions. They stood in silence for a moment as the boy reassured himself of whatever he was going to say. Behind him, Katsumi shifted on her toes anxiously as she watched Izuku struggle. All around them, only the buzzing of cicadas populated the night air, creating an ambient white noise. Finally, the girl couldn’t take it anymore.

“W-What’s going on in that head of your’s nerd ?” The blonde tried to keep her speech casual, but even she couldn’t help but waver slightly. Crossing her arms, she cleared her throat once more before speaking again. “ Talk . Or else I walk.”

“Okay, okay.” Izuku raised his hands up in surrender, turning around to face Katsumi. “Sorry.”

He was at eye level with her now. When did that happen? For as long as she had known the boy, Katsumi had been at least three centimeters taller than him.

“I just,” He began, clenching his fists at his sides. “I just can’t stop thinking about tomorrow. About the battle. About how all of it might go.”

“It’ll go just fine.” She stated plainly, furrowing her brow at him. “We’ve been preparing like hell for this fight. We’ve got contingencies up the ass , we’ve got a team powerful enough to bring down All Might in his prime, we have all our bases covered.”

“Kacchan, we’re locking ourselves in a giant cage with the world’s deadliest monster.” Izuku countered, giving her a skeptical look.

“We’re not locked in there with him. He’s locked in there with us .” Katsumi punched the boy in the shoulder, smirking slightly.

“Yeah.” Izuku sighed, looking away. “Definitely.” It was clear that his heart and his mind were elsewhere.

“So what? You getting the jitters or something? Thinking of backing out?” The blonde frowned, crossing her arms.

“What?” Izuku looked genuinely surprised by the question. “No, not at all. I’m sure about this. I just… I don’t know.”

“Oh my god.” Katsumi rolled her eyes. “Am I gonna have to play therapist with you all night? Say what it is you want before I roast your damn ass!”

“Heh, you really never change, Kacchan.” Izuku smiled at her, causing the girl’s cheeks to begin burning. Scowling at him, she quickly turned away.

“No, I guess that isn’t right.” He continued, looking up at the clear night sky. “You have changed a lot over this past year. Everything has. A little over a year ago, I was a quirkless nobody with an impossible dream. You were my bully and absolutely despised me. Now we’re good friends and about to save the world together. Hell, we have saved the world together.”

“Oh yeah, Humarise.” Katsumi nodded. She wanted to protest the ‘despised’ comment, the situation had in fact been much more complicated than that, but she found herself struggling to correct him.

“What I guess I’m trying to get across is that… I trust you Kacchan. I rely on you. A lot.” He met her gaze again, his emerald orbs reflected the stars above them.

Katsumi’s heart was going into overdrive now. She let out a shaky breath before gulping audibly. Her lips felt incredibly dry for some reason, and she couldn’t help but cast her gaze toward his.

“And that’s…” He let out a nervous breath of his own. “That’s kind of why I wanted to talk with you out here. Away from everybody else.”

“D-Deku…”

“If tomorrow, god forbid, doesn’t go to plan. There’s a… a promise that I want us to make, one that I need you to fulfill.”

‘Anything.’ She thought to herself. ‘I’m with you Izuku Midoriya. Until the end.’

“I need you to kill me.”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“...what?” Katsumi asked softly, her voice barely a whisper.

Her crimson eyes were wide in shock. The night air around them had grown silent with not even a single cricket chirping. Maybe they were, but Katsumi couldn’t hear them. Her world was too busy shattering around her for her to perceive anything else in this moment.

“I… Look I’ve put a lot of thought into what Gran Torino told us during the initial battle, and he was right. Shigaraki stealing One for All is the worst case scenario. At that point, nothing on Earth would be able to stop him. But All for One only works on living targets, that’s why All for One, um the, the guy not the quirk, kept Ragdoll alive when he stole her quirk. If… If I’m dead, Shigaraki can’t take it from me, and we still stand a chance at winning.”

“...”

“It's not like I’m asking you to do it as soon as the battle starts! This is a final gambit type deal. A last resort if the absolute worst of the worst scenarios plays out, not even anywhere close to a plan B, C, or D, more like a plan Z++.”

“...”

“Please say something Kacchan.” Izuku pleaded, his eyes fearful and full of concern.

“H-How…?”

“Just a quick AP Shot to the head would be best.” Izuku answered solemnly. “Any time it would take for me to go out is time Shigaraki could-”

“How could you ask me… something so horrible?” Katsumi was shaking now, her vision beginning to blur from the tears in her eyes. Grabbing Izuku, she slammed him against the tree with a burning fury.

“WHY WOULD YOU SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT?!” She screamed at him. “WHY?!”

As Katsumi held the frightened Izuku by his shirt collar, images of their lives up to now began to flash through her mind. How many times had they been in this position? How many threats had she thrown the boy’s way? How many scars had she left him with?

How long had it been since she saw herself as a monster?

Releasing her grip on him, Katsumi hung her head in shame. She wouldn’t dare to meet his gaze. If she did, she wasn’t sure if she would cry, punch him, try to kiss him, or all of the above.

“Is… Is it because…” She tried to speak, but each word became more difficult.

“I’m asking because I trust you more than anyone. That’s the only reason.” Izuku answered before his own voice began to shake. “A-And if asking that makes you hate me, then… hate me. We have to save the world tomorrow, Kacchan, and I’m more than prepared to die doing so.”

“You are not going to die!” Katsumi yelled, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. “We’re going to make it a perfect victory! That’s the only way this goes! And if you go into battle tomorrow with some dumbass notion like that in your head, it’s only gonna make you a damn liability in the field! So stop thinking like a damn pragmatist and start thinking like a hero!”

“...”

“...”

In the silence that followed, Katsumi swallowed a lump in her throat, hoping, praying that Izuku would see reason and they could forget this conversation ever happened. If this was going to be her last night on this Earth, this was not how she would spend it. So when Izuku finally spoke again, it came as a relief.

“You’re right, Kacchan.” Izuku stated. “You’re right and I’m overthinking this and it’ll only mess with my head and… yeah.” He looked down at the grass, ashamed of himself. “S-Sorry. This was all just… really dumb of me. Heh, stupid Deku, right?”

Katsumi wanted to slap him for saying that, she wanted to yell at him to grow a damn backbone, she wanted to hug him and cry until the morning. But she didn’t do any of that. She just stood there and clenched her fists, trying to keep it all together.

“You’re… being serious? You’re dropping it, just like that?” The blonde asked, still unable to face the green-haired boy.

“I-I am.” He replied. “If you refuse to do it, I can’t make you. I just… have to keep the faith and fight until my last breath. Anything less wouldn’t be very heroic would it?”

“Tch.”

“Um... There was another reason that I brought you out here tonight.” Izuku’s voice snapped Katsumi’s attention back to him. “I didn’t realize it until I was out on the streets but… I missed your birthday this year, didn’t I?”

“W- *sniff* What are you…?” The blonde stared at him in confusion before realization hit, her eyes widened. “Oh sh*t… I’m seventeen now.”

“You mean you didn’t know?!”

“A lot of sh*t’s been happening, alright? I don’t have time for stupid kid sh*t like birthdays!”

“There’s nothing stupid about your birthday! It’s fun!” Izuku’s laugh warmed Katsumi’s heart, making the girl’s scowl disappear. “So I take it you haven’t gotten any gifts then?” He asked.

“...Yeah?” Katsumi furrowed her brow at the boy, unsure of what he had planned.

Reaching into his back pocket, Izuku pulled out a small plastic container with a loose green ribbon tied into a pathetic knot around it. He held it out to her with a soft smile on his face. Her gaze darting between the gift and the boy presenting it, Katsumi rolled her eyes before accepting it, quickly tossing the ribbon aside as she pulled off the container’s lid.

Her ruby eyes widened in shock as she saw the box’s contents.

Izuku’s limited print holographic All Might card.

“W-What… I-I don’t…” She tried to speak, but words seemed to evade her once more.

“I remembered something a while back.” Izuku began to explain, looking away sheepishly as she stared at him. “When you and I were in elementary school, we begged your mom for weeks to take us to go buy trading cards. And when she finally relented and brought our group of friends -or rather your’s I guess- we each got to buy one pack.”

Katsumi remembered the day well, but she let Izuku continue regardless.

“I was so happy when I opened mine up and saw that card in the front of the deck, I started to cry. Big shocker there, right?” He chuckled softly. “You were just as happy about getting yours, but also… more than a little mad that I got one too. It ‘diminished the value’ I remember you saying. I don’t think I even knew what that word meant at the time.”

She winced at that memory but didn’t contest it.

“You were so proud of your card that you brought it to school every day that year to show it off at lunch. Meanwhile I just kept mine in a little plastic case at home.” Izuku’s smile dropped as he continued. “One day some fourth graders decided that they didn’t like you showing off and on the way back home they tried to take it from you. You fought them off, but the card got torn in the scuffle.”

“How did you-?” Katsumi began, but Izuku cut her off.

“I was… kinda um, watching. From behind a tree.” He answered, his cheeks flushing red as he looked away again. “I um, *ahem* Anyways, I felt terrible afterward. And I remember you saved up your allowance every month after that and had your mom bring you back to the store to buy more and more trading cards. But you never got the holographic All Might card again. By the time your next birthday was coming up, I had this little guy,” He held up the box in Katsumi’s hand, brushing his fingers against hers. “Already packaged and ready to gift to you. But then…”

“I… didn’t invite you to my eighth birthday party.” She finished for him quietly, staring down at the card with a solemn expression. Raising her head, she met his gaze. “Izuku I can’t-”

“Take it, Kacchan. Hold on to it as a good luck charm. Maybe after the fight, we can even get All Might to sign it. Imagine how valuable it’ll be then! It’ll have an amazing story behind it that’ll put every other collector out there to shame!” The boy grinned gleefully.

“You’re… really giving this to me, huh?” Katsumi asked, looking down at the card once more.

“I am.” He nodded, releasing his hands from hers. “I want you to keep it safe. And the only way to do that is to keep yourself safe.”

“A bit hypocritical, don’t you think?” She asked. “Considering what you just asked of me.”

“Yeah,” Izuku replied. “I guess it is. But that doesn’t change how I feel.”

Katsumi blushed even redder than she already was, quickly looking down to hide her face. Sometimes she truly wondered if the boy had any idea of the effect his words had on her. Looking back up at Izuku, she saw his kind eyes staring back at her as if she were the most precious thing in the world.

“Bed! I-I need to get to bed!” She yelled abruptly. “M-My own bed! Separate! And sleep!”

Izuku looked surprised at her sudden outburst, but quickly straightened his back and cleared his throat.

“Um, r-right.” He nodded, quickly averting his own gaze. “We should. D-Do that. Big day tomorrow, gotta be rested. G-Good night, Kacchan!” He called out, but the girl was already sprinting off back toward their temporary dorm, tears falling behind her as she ran.

Why did she have to fall for the sweetest, stupidest, most amazing boy in the entire world?

PRESENT

Kyoka Jirou tossed and turned in her bed, memories of the day’s earlier battle played on repeat in her mind.

Midoriya appeared before her in a sudden flash of lightning, faster than the girl could ever hope to react to. The look on his face made her blood run cold. As he raised his hand to her, Kyoka didn’t even have enough time to let out a scream before tendrils of darkness enveloped her like serpents.

“You’re shaking…” A distorted mechanical voice spoke from the depths of Kyoka’s memory. “...Poor thing. Did you think this was some kind of school trip?”

Terror washed over the girl in a tidal wave as she was brought back to her fight against the King of Villains. Jirou shut her eyes tightly, clutching her legs against her chest.

“Did rubbing shoulders with extraordinary people make you think that you too were someone special?”

Kyoka’s heart was pounding now. It was hard to breathe. Her arms felt weak and everything was cold. When her eyes shot open, she immediately rushed to the corner of her room before violently throwing up into her trash bin.

Why? Why were these memories resurfacing now? Why him?

Kyoka knew Midoriya. He was the nicest guy in the world. A true hero. So then why?

Why did the mere thought of him utterly terrify her?

Chapter 7: SOS

Chapter Text

Kyoka hadn’t managed any sleep last night.

Between the constant tossing and turning, the dull aching in her sinuses, and the feeling of her stomach turning in on itself, the punk girl had spent the night in pain, begging for morning to come. When it finally did, she didn’t feel that much better, instead she was just tired, begging for rest that her body and mind simply weren’t willing to grant her.

Now that it was the weekend, Class 3-A had the luxury of not rushing through their morning routine. Though many, like Kyoka herself, had duties they still needed to perform, it wasn’t nearly as time consuming or as physically demanding as their normal classes were. And though the punk rock girl had the option of sleeping in, staying cooped up in this room any longer felt like a worse fate than being born into the Todoroki family.

As she tossed away her blankets, Kyoka shivered as the cold air of her room touched her exposed limbs. Quickly throwing on a large black hoodie and purple sweatpants, she dragged herself down the steps to the kitchen, where the punk girl saw that the first floor was empty save for one Momo Yaoyorozu, preparing breakfast for that morning.

“Oh, good morning Jirou-san!” The raven-haired girl greeted her classmate with a wave. “You’re up earlier than expected!”

Kyoka greeted the girl back with a small wave of her own and tried to fix her bedhead, ignoring the feeling of her heart racing in her chest.

The heiress was dressed in a pink t-shirt and red short-shorts that showed off her long elegant legs, evidently not experiencing the same chill as Kyoka was. Even after all this time, Kyoka honestly couldn’t tell if the other girl dressed so provocatively on purpose, or if she was just entirely oblivious to how her choice of clothing impacted her classmates. Her ebony hair was set down from its normal ponytail, instead cascading down to her shoulders like an onyx waterfall, its soft luster reflecting the morning rays through the window.

Momo had yet to apply her makeup for the day, not that the natural beauty really needed it, but it left the one blemish on her otherwise flawless skin visible. It was a scar she had gotten during the Villain War, one of the Twice clones had slashed her face during the battle, leaving a deep horizontal gash across the bridge of her nose. Kyoka had heard the heiress call her wound ugly, but the punk girl couldn’t help but find her even more beautiful with it.

It was hard to believe really, how close the two had gotten. It was no stretch to say that Momo had become Kyoka’s best friend since coming to U.A., and while she couldn’t be certain, she at least hoped the feeling was mutual.

In all honesty, when she had first met the heiress, Kyoka had assumed that she would be a generic rich bitch who believed herself better than everyone around her. And who could blame her? Momo had it all; the looks, the intelligence, an amazing quirk, absolutely insane stacks of cash, and basically every other reason to think herself superior. However despite this lavish upbringing, the girl behind all of those things was an incredibly humble, kind, and generous person, especially toward her friends.

How could you not fall in love with her?

“-eeling alright, Jirou-san?” Momo’s voice snapped the girl out of her silent musings.

“H-Huh?!” Kyoka abruptly recoiled.

“I asked if you were feeling alright.” The taller girl leaned over the counter, inspecting Kyoka’s face. “Forgive me for saying this, but you don’t look too well. Do you feel sick at all?”

“Huh? N-No, I’m not…” The Hearing Hero tried to look anywhere but Momo’s concerned gaze. “I-I’m fine, really.”

“Absolutely not! Look how red your face is! You clearly have a fever! Here,” The creation-user quickly formed an electronic thermometer in her outstretched hand. “Let me take your temperature, if only for my own peace of mind.”

“Y-You really don’t have to!” Kyoka shielded her face with her large baggy sleeves.

“Yaoyorozu-san. Jirou-san.” A husky voice greeted from behind.

“What’s goin’ on here?” A much more lively voice asked as both entered the kitchen. Kyoka didn’t need to look to recognize who they belonged to, after all, they had been in a band together.

“Tokoyami-san, Kaminari-san,” Momo flagged the boys over. “Jirou-san here is clearly feeling under the weather but refuses to acknowledge it. Please help me talk some sense into her!”

“I’m not sick!” Kyoka protested.

“Aww for real?” Kaminari frowned, examining the girl in question. “Hmmm. Yeah, you don’t look so great. Did you even sleep last night? You look… tired.”

“I’m fine .” The girl insisted through gritted teeth. “I have patrol today. I’ll be better by then.”

“If you’re unwell, then you should call in sick.” Tokoyami stated plainly. “Pushing yourself will only cause you further issues in the future.”

“Jirou’s sick?” Uraraka’s voice asked as the brunette entered the room. “That sucks.”

“Oh my god.” Kyoka let out a groan, placing her head in her hands.

“Hey Uraraka,” Kaminari greeted. “You’re up early, and on a weekend? What’s the deal?”

After living together for two years, everyone in the dorm was well aware, Ochako Uraraka hated mornings. The girl listed sleeping as a hobby . So for something to get her up at the crack of dawn, it had to be important.

“I’ve got *yawn* patrol this morning. Early shift.” The brunette answered, rubbing the gunk from her eyes. “Gotta get in all the hours I can.”

“You aren’t having money troubles again, are you?” Tokoyami inquired. “You know we would all be more than willing to assist you with any problem if you’d only ask.”

Kyoka let out a soft sigh, her eyes drifting to the floor as one of her earphone jacks moved to her lips. She began chewing it softly.

“Tokoyami-san is right, we’re all family here. And I would be glad to help out any sister of mine.” Momo nodded in agreement before smiling giddily. “Ooooh, I’ve always wished for a younger sister!”

“Appreciate the offer, really, but I’ve got it under control. Even when the odds are stacked against us, the Urarakas push forward.” The girl gave a bright smile before flexing her biceps.

“Oh! Hey guys!” A voice from the front door caused Kyoka’s blood to run cold. Frozen in place, her eyes widened and her jaw went slack, dropping her jack. Directly next to her, Kaminari spotted the girl’s reaction and gave her a curious look.

“D-Deku!” Uraraka quickly adjusted her hair and outfit, fixing her bangs and straightening out her skirt.

“Midoriya, are you already finished with your run?” Momo asked as the boy entered the kitchen.

“Yeah, I decided to take it a bit easier today. I’m uh, feeling a little sore after yesterday.” The tall boy admitted bashfully, wincing as he stretched his neck and shoulders.

He was dressed in black track pants, a navy blue hoodie, and his usual red sneakers. The hoodie had the word ‘poncho’ written across the front because of course it did.

“Your commitment to your chosen path truly puts the rest of us to shame.” Tokoyami sighed, shaking his head.

“Hey, you guys are the ones who get to be heroes today, meanwhile until I catch up on my studies, I’m just a student.” Midoriya pointed out.

“I… I have to go.” Kyoka muttered softly.

“Huh?” Kaminari placed a hand on the girl’s shoulder. “Jirou, are you alright?”

Her heart was pounding in her ears and her breathing was labored. Beneath her heavy sweats, Kyoka felt goosebumps growing across her skin.

“I have to go.” She repeated before quickly bolting back up the stairs, not saying another word to anyone present.

“Poor girl.” Momo lamented as she watched her friend disappear up the steps. “We definitely can’t let her attend patrol in that kind of state. I’ll let Mr. Aizawa know as soon as I see him. Midoriya, since you’re going to be here all day, would you mind checking up on Jirou-san periodically? I’m worried she might strain herself and worsen her condition.”

“Oh, is she not feeling well?” Midoriya looked to where the girl in question had just exited. “That’s a shame. Yeah, of course I can check in on her. Do you think-”

*SLAM!*

“WHERE IS HE?!” A manic voice demanded as the front door swung open.

In the doorway stood an equally manic looking girl with pink dreads of hair pulled back into a ponytail. On her forehead, she wore an impossibly complicated looking set of goggles and over the rest of her was a set of gray coveralls stained in oil.

“H-Hatsume-san?!”

“Honestly, Midoriya, do the words 'exclusive manufacturing agreement’ mean nothing to you?” Hatsume questioned the boy as she dragged him along through U.A.’s halls. “I’m well within my rights to sue y’know! You signed a contract!”

“Hatsume, you tricked me into signing that contract. I thought it was a get well card for Power Loader!”

“ I did not trick you!” The engineer argued.

“You said ‘Power Loader is sick, sign this.’ and handed me a sheet of paper.” Izuku quoted the girl’s own words to her.

“He was sick that day. Whatever correlation you made between those two statements was your own doing. I, however, am willing to look past all of this and forgive you, so long as you’re willing to renegotiate a new contract that requires you promote Hatsume Industries at least twice per TV interview.”

“Where have you even been, Hatsume?” Izuku inquired, now walking beside the girl. “I haven’t seen you the whole time I’ve been back.”

“Back? Did you go somewhere?”

“... Please tell me you’re joking.” He looked down at the girl with concern.

“Relax, I am.” The engineer patted him on the back. “I wouldn’t be good hero support if I didn’t keep tabs on my clients. And now that we’re back on the topic, how could you betray me like this? Wearing some cheap knock-off of my designs? For a year?! ” Hatsume furrowed her brow, stepping in front of Izuku before she poked a finger into his chest.

“My costume got destroyed in the fight with Shigaraki!” He reasoned. “I’m sorry I didn’t ask you for a new one first but things were kind of hectic after the war. Someone far away needed my help, so I had to go. One thing led to another and before I knew it, a year had gone by. I honestly didn’t think I would be gone so long. I’m sorry.”

“Hmmph.” Hatsume puffed out her cheeks.

“If it’s any consolation, I had Melissa stick as close to your design as possible.”

“Who’s Melissa?”

“... You’re joking again, right?” Izuku raised an eyebrow.

The look Hatsume gave him told him that she legitimately had no clue what she was talking about.

“Blonde girl, glasses, two years our senior, genius support engineer? She stayed here for a week during our first year?”

“...”

“You two had a competition to design a new costume for me?”

“...”

“I got crushed by a boulder, set on fire, almost died. Numerous times. So did you.”

“...”

“She’s David Shield’s daughter?”

“David Shield has a daughter? And I met her? Why didn’t you tell me?! I could’ve had my own building on I-Island by now!”

Izuku let out a sigh before he and Hatsume finally came to a stop. Peculiarly though, they weren’t in front of the Development Studio where Izuku had believed they were heading. Instead they were in front of a frosted glass door with no label on it.

“Uh… Hatsume? Where are we?” He questioned.

“Oh you didn’t know? Third year support students get their own personal design lab. Power Loader gave me my own right after the war though, partly as a reward for my work, partly so I would stop blowing up the studio. Mostly so I would stop blowing up the studio.”

Pulling out her I.D. card from her coveralls, Hatsume swiped it in front of a reader beside the door. In an instant, the frosted glass turned clear, revealing the room behind it. As the young engineer threw open the door, the hero-in-training took in his new surroundings with wide eyes.

“This is where the magic happens.” Hatsume smiled as she led the boy in.

The first thing that hit Izuku was how shockingly large the lab was, a cube of concrete the size of two classrooms stacked on top of one another. The cold stone floor was littered with a mixture of half-finished tech, crushed aluminum cans, and dirty clothes. In the back half of the room, a metal balcony overlooked the front, further showcasing the room’s size. Machines both large and small covered every table and workbench within the room, some even hanging from the ceiling by chains. In the right hand corner of the room, there was a small leather couch in front of a flatscreen TV and a small coffee table littered with takeout boxes.

The second thing that hit Izuku… was the smell.

“Oh my god!” He quickly covered his nose with his hand.

“That bad, huh?” Hatsume asked, the smile never leaving her face. “Not to worry! Computer: run Visitor’s Package protocol!”

A few moments later, numerous robots, no more than a few inches tall, rolled out from several cubbyholes in each corner of the room. They quickly began scouring the room, brushing away the garbage and picking out the dirty clothes from the piles before dragging them away, as they did so the tops of their tiny heads emitted a clear, floral scented mist that quickly overpowered the strong smell.

One of the robots rolled directly up to Izuku, bashing itself repeatedly against his left foot. Curious, Izuku lifted his foot up to find that he’d been standing on one of Hatsume’s bras. Now free to complete his task, the tiny bot grabbed the undergarment and, though he didn’t have any eyes, or a face for that matter, Izuku could have sworn it glared at him before zipping away back to its home.

Within minutes, the room’s floor was completely cleared of any speck of dirt or debris.

“Wow…” Izuku was speechless.

“Right? I’m this close to getting them to not set the laundry on fire.” Hatsume held her thumb and index finger close together.

“Hatsume, are you… living here?” The boy inquired.

“I mean… yeah?” The pink-haired girl answered as though it was obvious. “I’ve got all the necessities, I have drones to pick up my food deliveries, and there’s a sink and shower near the back. They’re supposed to be for, y’know, chemical spills, but they work just fine for normal hygiene.”

“Don’t you get lonely?” Izuku asked, a worried look in his eyes.

“Are you kidding? I want to live the rest of my life like this!” Hatsume grinned widely. “Now come on, Ten Million! We’ve got work to do! You grabbed your costume like I asked, right?”

“Oh, uh yeah.” Izuku took off his yellow backpack before opening it to pull out his hero suit, neatly folded up. “You said you had some improvements in mind?”

“That I do!” Hatsume nodded before accepting the bundle of clothes and walking over to a nearby metal cylinder. “Improvement number one:” She pressed her foot down on a pedal, causing the cylinder to open.

She then unceremoniously dropped his suit into the garbage.

“Hatsume!” Izuku rushed forward to fish the costume out of the waste receptacle, tossing aside a rotten banana peel that had latched onto it.

“We don’t need old ideas dragging us down! It’ll only slow our progress! The Number One has to be ten, no, twenty steps ahead of the curve when it comes to his tech. Villains won’t even know what hit them! We’ll be so far ahead of the curve that no one else even sees the curve!”

“I like my costume design, Hatsume. We’ve already strayed far enough from the original design as is.”

“No offense Midoriya, but I saw your prototype costume.” The girl responded, searching through her cabinet drawers. “It was ugly and impractical.”

“My mom made me that costume.”

“Then it’s a good thing I prefaced it with ‘no offense’.”

“I’m not throwing away my costume, Hatsume.” Izuku stated bluntly.

“Fine, the throwing away thing was more of a gesture anyway. Do whatever you want with it, wear it as pajamas, I don’t care. But when you’re in the field, you’re wearing my gear or nothing at all.”

“H-Hatsume!”

“Aaand now that we’re on that topic,” Whirling around to face the boy, the engineer held out a roll of measuring tape.

Izuku let out an audible gulp, his cheeks flushing red.

“Strip down. Mama needs some measurements!”

“Seriously?! You’ve never been to a Little Miss Hero Pageant?!” Kinoko Komori was stunned, staring at Momo with her jaw agape..

“I’m sorry. I can’t say that I have.” Momo shook her head and shrugged. “I wasn’t even aware such a thing existed before today.”

“We had them every year back home. You’re looking at the four-time Gunma prefecture Hero Princess.” Komori pointed at herself proudly. “It would’ve been five but you can only pass as under ten for so long.”

“Oh my, I had no idea I was in the presence of royalty .” Momo giggled and gave a curtsy. “I’m truly humbled.”

“Thank you my loyal subject.” Komori returned the gesture with her own. “It’s a shame you never got to try competing though. It was a lot of fun when I did it, and you would’ve been a shoo-in for first place.”

“That’s very kind of you to say.” Momo smiled. “So then, do you know who the third judge will be? If they aren’t a student like us, then do you think-”

“What’s up bitches?! I just-oh f*ck it’s you two.” The pro heroine, Mt. Lady paused as she entered through the door, a bottle of chardonnay and three glasses in her hands. Like the two girls present, she was in her hero costume, the cream colored jumpsuit and large purple horns made her unmistakable.

The trio were currently standing in one of the waiting rooms of Mustafa stadium, preparing to judge a pageant for young girls looking to become future heroes. Momo and Komori had been called in at the last minute as replacement judges, so Mt. Lady’s confusion understandable.

“Am I…? Do I have the wrong room or…?” The blonde asked, peeking outside at the door.

“No, you’ve got the right one.” Komori answered. “We’re the substitutes. Uwabami got called away on an assignment and Ms. Joke has the flu.”

“sh*t!” Mt. Lady stomped her foot. “And I was looking forward to this too.”

“W-We can still have an enjoyable time!” Momo quickly spoke up.

“Oh yeah? Either of you two ladies drink?”

“We’re underage. And on duty.” The mushroom-themed heroine replied bluntly.

“Couple of squares.” Mt. Lady grumbled, rolling her eyes. “Alright look, this right here is what’s gonna get me through the day.” She held up her bottle. “So as long as neither of you narc, we’ll get along just fine.”

Momo’s eyes widened at the woman’s brazen statement.

“Um, do you truly think that is a wise decision?” She asked, raising her hand. “If an emergency occurs and we are needed-”

“Oh, would you relax? Nobody cares about this thing besides a bunch of diva moms forcing their abandoned dreams onto their poor daughters.” The older heroine explained, walking to a nearby table and uncorking her bottle. “I should know, I was one of those daughters.”

Setting the glasses aside, she took a large swig straight from the bottle before setting it back down.

“Ahhh. Liquid therapy right here.” She held up the chardonnay in a toast before downing another swig.

“This… is going to be a long day, isn’t it?”

As Izuku Midoriya stood outside of U.A.’s new spa and wellness center, he couldn’t help but feel severely out of place. In his entire life, the boy had never actually thought to get a massage despite living out a near constant cycle of bodily harm followed by severe physical and mental stress followed by more bodily harm.

He was more of an ‘I simply live with the pain’ type of guy. Plus if movies and television were to be believed, the process involved getting naked in front of a stranger which Izuku was definitely not comfortable with.

However, during the measuring process with Hatsume, she had discovered a massive welt on his back, likely the cause of his recent soreness and definitely the result of being shot in the back with a rubber bullet the previous day.

Those things hurt!

So after receiving a health lecture from Hatsume of all people, Izuku had a coupon for a free spa day more or less forced into his hand before being pushed straight out of the lab. The engineer had given him specific instructions to worry about his own health choices before he criticized hers.

Izuku… saw her point.

So here he was, nervously clutching a flier in his hand as he walked into the spa building. As he approached the front counter, he was surprised to spot a familiar face standing behind it.

“H-Honenuki-san?” Izuku raised an eyebrow.

“Oh? Hey Midoriya.” The boy raised a hand in greeting. “How’s it going? Surprised to see you here.”

Juzo Honenuki was one of Class 3-B’s major powerhouses and the only male recommendation student among third year heroics. His ash-blonde hair, pale skin, and complete lack of lips made him appear almost like a skeleton at a glance, and his quirk was frighteningly effective in combat, but from what Iida and Todoroki had told Izuku, he was a pretty laid-back guy.

The boy was wearing a white linen uniform that somewhat resembled medical scrubs and given the fact that he was standing behind the counter, rather than in front of it…

“I-I could say the same for you.” Izuku replied, awkwardly running a hand through his hair. “So um, do you work here or…”

“Part-timer.” Honenuki clarified. “I want to study physical therapy in addition to my hero work, so I worked out a deal with the owner. I work the register in my free time and get some lessons in exchange.”

“Oh, that’s cool.” Izuku nodded along.

“So, here for a massage I take it?” The other boy asked, looking him up and down.

“Uh, y-yeah.” The green-haired boy nodded once more before handing Honenuki the coupon clutched in his hand, only slightly crinkled from Izuku’s grip.

“Oof,” The Softening user looked over the sheet of paper before looking back up at Izuku. “We stopped running this promotion like, six months ago.”

“Oh, th-that’s okay!” Izuku quickly took a step back followed by another. “I-I’m sorry to bother you with this then, um, I’ll just go then. Again, sorry for the trouble.”

“Hold on,” Honenuki held up his hand, gesturing for Izuku to stop. “Let me go talk to the boss, I’m sure we can work something out.”

“You really don’t-aaand you’re gone.” Izuku muttered to himself, left standing awkwardly in the lobby. He wanted to leave, but at this point he’d be a jerk if he just turned around and ran out the door.

This whole thing was just… too awkward for him.

After another few moments of waiting, Izuku took another hesitant step toward the front door before Honenuki returned from the back office.

“Good news! The boss was more than happy to comp the whole session, she said it was the least she could do after everything you’ve done.” The boy stated cheerfully.

“That’s… very generous of her! Th-Thank you.” Izuku bowed deeply.

“Not a problem. I figure I owe you at least this much too. C’mon, I’ll take you to the back room and we can get you ready.”

“O-Oh! So are you going to be…”

“No, I won’t be the one doing the massage. I’m not really qualified to do that on the professional level yet. Don’t worry though, the boss is great, she’ll take care of you.”

Honenuki led Izuku down the hall next to the counter before opening a door to his left, gesturing for him to enter. Izuku stepped inside to find a small, dimly lit room with a cushioned massage table in the center as well as some incense and bottles of various oils sitting on a nearby counter.

“Go ahead and get comfortable, the boss should be here shortly. You’re set up for a standard shiatsu, but there’s a catalog of our services on the counter. You can look through and see if there’s anything you want to add to the package, no extra charge.” The skeletal boy explained.

“Oh wow um, thank you. Again.” Izuku bowed once more.

“Don’t worry about it. Thanks for stopping by.” Honenuki gave a final wave goodbye before exiting the room, shutting the door behind him.

Now by himself, Izuku looked around for a moment before removing his backpack, setting it down on a nearby chair. He wasn’t really sure what to do from there. Honenuki had told him to ‘get comfortable’ which in Izuku’s mind, could mean a lot of things. Personally, he was most comfortable as he was right now, fully clothed. But on the other hand if his reluctance to disrobe got in the masseuse’s way, then the experience wouldn’t be pleasant for either of them.

Debating the topic in his head, he finally elected to remove his hoodie, setting it next to his backpack. Beneath that he had worn a tight-fitting black tank top along with his usual compression sleeves. It was enough for Hatsume to get accurate measurements through, so it was hopefully fine for this.

“Oh wow,” A husky female voice snapped Izuku out of his thoughts. “You’re a lot bigger than I expected you to be. Video footage does not do you justice.”

A large woman with four muscular arms entered the room. She was dressed in a similar uniform to Honenuki, only hers was black rather than white. Her short brown hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail and she had a notably strong jawline.

“Um, hello ma’am, my name is Izuku Midoriya. Very pleased to meet you.” Izuku quickly bowed his head to the woman.

“No need for the formalities, they kinda kill the relaxed vibe we’ve got going here.” She assured him, waving one of her hands before outstretching another. “I’m Yon. Glad to meet you.”

“Y-You as well.” Izuku accepted the gesture. “Um, sorry in advance, I really don’t know anything about massages or what the etiquette is for any of this or-”

“Ooooh, first timer huh? I’m honored that I’m the one who gets to pop your cherry.”

Izuku’s face lit up with embarrassment.

“Sorry, haha, sorry. Couldn’t help myself.” The woman laughed. “Don’t worry about it, I’ll give you a onceover and we’ll see where your tension is. We’ll figure it out from there.” Yon looked him over. “Is that what you’ll be wearing?”

“Um, yeah. Is that okay?”

“Perfectly fine, though if something is restricting my access, is it alright if I adjust it?”

“Y-Yeah, that should be okay.” Izuku nodded.

“Great.” She nodded before stretching out her hands.

*Crackackack!*

Sixteen knuckles let out a chorus of pops.

“Let’s get started.”

Backstage at the pageant, Momo was making the rounds to ensure that everyone was having a good, safe time before the first event began. If someone’s outfit was torn, she was ready with a full sewing kit. If someone was hurt, she was there with a salve and bandages. If someone needed to throw up, she could create a bucket to prevent a mess.

So far only the last one had been necessary.

Still though, Momo was having a wonderful time. All the girls were utterly spellbound by her quirk, one had even called her ‘Fairy Godmother’ because she could apparently ‘make wishes come true.’ Momo was on cloud nine. Why had her parents never let her participate in such a delightful event?

“Oh my goodness, look at you!” Momo cooed as she bent down to eye level with one of the little girls. “Your costume is absolutely adorable! I love it!”

The girl was dressed as a ballerina, complete with a puffy pink tutu and ballet shoes. When smiled back at the older girl, she revealed that she was missing her two front teeth.

“Are you going to do a dance for your talent?”

“Mhmm!” Excitedly the girl activated her quirk to show off, her skin becoming violet and crystalline in structure. Striking a ballet pose, she showed off her twinkling skin. “My quirk ith called Amethyth. My thkin geth all hard and thiny.”

“How beautiful!” Momo clapped her hands together. “What an excellent quirk you have! You know, I have a friend in my class with a very similar quirk to yours and he is a wonderful hero!”

The little girl beamed at the praise, excitedly showing off to the gathering crowd. It was then that the girl’s mother walked in, phone in hand as she finished sending a text message.

“Sorry about that, honey. Mommy needed to take that phone call. How is- What are you doing?! No quirk use until the competition starts! You know this! We lose our edge if the other girls know what’s coming!”

“Thorry mom.” The girl looked down sadly as her skin returned to normal. Around them, the other girls began to disperse, leaving to speak with their own mothers.

“I apologize madam.” Momo stood up. “She got a little excited and wanted to show off and I encouraged her.”

“Oh so it’s your fault that-” The mother turned to the raven-haired teen, looking her up and down before a look of disgust fell over her face. “Come on honey,” She reached down and grabbed her daughter’s hand, backing away. “Let’s go… fix your makeup .”

As the mother and daughter exited to another room, Momo was left standing by herself, bewildered at the woman’s response. Quickly forming a small mirror in her hand, the heiress examined her face to see what was wrong. No marks or blemishes, her scar was still obscured by her makeup, overall there seemed to be nothing notable that would have offended anyone.

“How peculiar.” Momo shook her head, deciding to dismiss the woman’s actions as that of a stressed mother.

Walking back to the rest of the girls, the Everything Hero spotted Komori speaking avidly with one of the girls.

“Now remember, confidence is the eno- key to victory. If you can’t convince yourself that you deserve to win, then you don’t have any chance of convincing everyone else.” The mushroom girl advised, though the girl she was coaching looked bored and lost.

Spotting a mother fretting over her daughter’s dress nearby, Momo decided to engage the two.

“Did you require any assistance?” She offered a kind smile as she leaned down next to them. “If there are any tears in the fabric, I can help sew it up.”

“No, we should be fine. Thank you for…” The mom caught a glimpse of Momo’s face and paused mid-sentence. “... offering. C-Come along, Sara, we should um…” The woman failed to say anything further, instead whisking her daughter off and away from the teen hero.

Now Momo knew something was wrong. The problem was she didn’t know what . Had she said something or done something reprehensible without realizing it? Why did her mere presence seem to put everyone on edge?

Searching around, she saw that everyone was now avoiding her like the plague. Even the girls she believed she had made a good impression on just a short while ago wouldn’t even dare cast her a glance now. Parents whispered to each other, ever so briefly pointing in her direction while speaking. It was incredibly confusing and more than a little frustrating!

Hanging her head in shame, Momo walked back to the waiting room where she found a tipsy Mt. Lady reclining on the couch.

“Heyyy! Creati!” The woman greeted, bottle still in hand. “Howzit goin’? You *hicc* having a good time?”

“Well, to be honest I was .” Momo sat on a nearby chair, placing her hand beneath her chin. “But now I’m not so sure. Something seems to have happened without my knowledge, and now no one will even speak to me.” She glanced at herself in the room’s large mirror. “Could it be my costume? I know I used to get complaints about the old one, but I didn’t think this one was too bad…”

Momo looked over her costume in the mirror. After the war, she had made some adjustments to her costume that made it slightly more conservative. She still wore her red leotard, but it now featured a zipper down the chest to preserve some modesty. In addition, she now wore long black stirrup leggings that hooked under the arch of her foot, a design note she had taken from Amajiki-senpai’s hero costume. Granted, walking around barefoot took some getting used to, but doing so opened up new options in combat and mobility that she felt were well worth the trade-off. The costume could also tear away in segments should the need for more surface area arise, but thankfully she had yet to encounter such a serious situation.

Overall, it was nothing too inappropriate. So Momo couldn’t imagine that was the reason for her sudden alienation.

“Maybe they’re just jealous, honey.” Mt. Lady suggested. “These moms, *hicc* they’re as catty as catty gets. They see someone like you and just feel a need to drag you down to their level. They take these, these innocent young girls and they… oh god. Memories coming back to haunt me! I need more wine!” She quickly got up from her seat on the couch, handing Momo her empty bottle before leaving in search of another.

Just as the heroine left the room, another figure stepped in, one Momo recognized to be the woman in charge of the pageant. She was dressed in a gray pantsuit and black heels and she held a clipboard in one hand, a more official look than one would expect for this type of event.

“Yaoyorozu-san, may I speak with you for a moment?”

“O-Of course, madam. Please.” Taking a seat on the couch, the raven-haired girl gestured to the woman to sit as well.

“I’m afraid this won’t take long.” The woman stated sternly, not moving an inch. “Over the past forty-five minutes, I’ve been receiving non-stop complaints from parents, all of them centered around you .”

“Wha-? I-I…” Momo was flabbergasted. “I don’t understand! I haven’t done anything!”

“I know.” The woman nodded. “In the short time you’ve been here, your behavior has been nothing short of exemplary, however that does not seem to be the basis for their complaints. Several of them mentioned a viral video which apparently involved you in some capacity.”

“A video?” Momo’s mind was racing now.

“Unfortunately, more than half of the parents here have threatened to remove their children from the competition if I keep you on as a judge.” The woman’s expression dropped. “I’m… sorry. I’ll make sure that you’re compensated for your time and travel, however…”

Momo hung her head in shame.

“N-No, I understand. You have a business to run. I… wouldn’t be much of a hero if my presence only created problems for everyone else.” Solemnly, the girl stood up from her seat before bowing to the woman. “Thank you for the opportunity for this experience, I truly appreciate it. I’ll see myself out.”

Without another word, Momo exited the room, checking to make sure that the hallway was empty before clamping a hand over her mouth, tears spilling out from the corners of her eyes. With her free hand she brought out her phone from her belt, quickly pulling up a search engine before typing her family name into the search bar.

Seeing the results that appeared, her eyes widened in shock.

Izuku stepped out into the onsen clad in nothing but a small towel, looking down at the small pool sitting in front of him. The strong heat from the mineral water created a large cloud of steam against the cold outside air. The onsen had four walls but no roof, allowing Izuku to see that the sky above was pitch black. Night had rolled in faster than the boy could’ve imagined.

After being diagnosed ‘the worst case I’ve ever seen’ by Yon-san, Izuku had been prescribed the full package by the older woman. Over the past few hours, the woman’s four hands had meticulously worked out practically every knot in his body, leaving Izuku a veritable pile of goo afterward.

A short recovery period later and here he was, ready to finish the night with a relaxing soak before heading back to the dorm. He hadn’t actually gotten any studying done like he had been planning for today, but if he was being honest with himself, he needed this more than he ever realized.

Stepping down into the hot water he took in a deep breath before wading further into the onsen. The mineral water felt like heaven against his newly unwound muscles, a sensation that surpassed even the feeling of his first bath after his month of vigilantism. Thankfully, this time he wasn’t nearly as caked in dirt and grime.

“Ahhhhh.” Izuku let out a sigh of relief as he took a seat near the wall, resting his head and arms above the water while everything below his chest was submerged. Closing his eyes, he soaked in the pleasant contrast between the cold air and the warm bath.

“Oooh yeah.” Banjo’s voice caused Izuku to open his eyes to find the fifth vestige lounging beside him, similarly enjoying the water, though given that he was a ghost, the man wasn’t actually displacing any water. “Kid, we gotta make a habit of doing this more.”

“If we did, the effect would diminish with each visit.” Kudo replied as the blue specter of the second user formed atop a nearby rock, his feet dangling over the water. “Besides, we need to prioritize mastering a hundred percent of One for All. There isn’t time for luxuries. A new threat could appear at any time.”

“Geez, we oughta get the kid a saddle with how much you’re always riding his ass.” Nana spoke up in Izuku’s defense, her ghostly pink legs kicking the water as she sat opposite of Banjo. “You’re doing great, honey. You deserve at least this much.” The older woman assured him, placing her hand on his shoulder.

“It helps that we’re feeling some of the effects too.” Yoichi stated, the white vestige of the first user was floating around on his back. “I’ve never been in an onsen before, it’s nice. Makes me wish I had tried one out while I was still alive.”

“Personally, I was never a big fan.” En spoke up, trying to scoop the water to no effect. “Water in the pores makes my quirk less effective. Midoriya, you may want to make a mental note of that for the future, I suppose.”

“Back when I was alive, there was a natural hot spring not too far from my cabin. I quite enjoyed the occasional dip.” Hikage added. His massive green figure made it so that the water only came up slightly past his hips while standing.

Thankfully all of the vestiges were still in their usual outfits, so Izuku didn’t have to see anything he didn’t want to. Double thankfully, the onsen was empty aside from the boy and his ghost friends, so no one would think he was crazy for talking to a bunch of ghosts.

“I’m shocked to learn you ever bathed at all, Hikage. I never said it when we first met, but I smelled you long before I ever saw you.” The third user, Bruce, gave a sly smile.

All of the One for All users shared a laugh together, even the ever stoic Kudo cracked a smile.

“As nice as this is, we can’t stay too long.” Izuku noted. “I’d still like to get some studying done today, otherwise I’ll never catch up to the others. God, it’d be nice if I could think as fast as I moved.”

“We tried that before, remember?” En remarked. “You got a nosebleed and threw up.”

“Just because it failed once doesn’t mean we should close the book on it.” Kudo countered. “If Midoriya can learn to accelerate his mental processes, that opens up a lot more doors for us. We should make it a priority again, now that we’re in a safe testing environment.”

“Yeah, I think that’s a good idea.” Izuku nodded. “I’ll start looking into that tomorrow. There was an older hero I have some notes on who had that kind of quirk, O’Clock, he could run and think fast.”

“I’m not too sure about this.” Nana added, a look of worry in her eyes. “Trying something like that could give you serious brain damage or something! And even if it doesn’t it's still definitely going to hurt, like a lot.”

“You’re not the boy’s mother, Shimura.” Kudo narrowed his eyes. “You don’t have to treat him like a child.”

“Better than treating him like a soldier.” Nana returned the second user’s glare.

A tension thicker than the steam began to grow inside of the onsen.

“Guys, please don’t fight.” Izuku stepped in between the two. “We can work this out later, for now why don’t we just relax and keep our cool? I’ll keep both of your opinions in mind and do my research, we can discuss when we know more.”

Both vestiges looked to Izuku before looking at each other once more and nodding silently. Kudo vanished back into a wisp but Nana stuck around, content to ‘enjoy’ the water.

“Phew.” Izuku pushed his bangs back, now wet with sweat and condensation. “Five more minutes, then we’re heading back to the dorm.”

Leaning back against the onsen’s wall again, Izuku misjudged the distance and ended up slipping back, hitting his head against the wall.

*Clunk!*

“Ow!” The boy grabbed the back of his head, wincing in pain.

“k-kero…”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“... T-Tsu?” Izuku asked with wide eyes staring at the wall. “Is… Is that you?”

“...”

“...”

“... Yes.” The girl’s voice croaked from the other side of the wall.

“...”

“...”

‘I’m such an idiot!’ Izuku screamed in his head, grasping at his hair. ‘Of course there’s more than one onsen! She just heard EVERYTHING!’

Izuku turned around to look at the other One for All users for support, mouthing the words ‘Help me!’ All of them stared back at him with equally wide eyes before glancing at each other then promptly then evaporating into colorful wisps, effectively ditching him.

“U-Um…” Izuku turned back to the wall, leaning his forearm against it as he tried to think of a plan. “Is… there anyone else over there?”

“No, kero. It’s just me.” The girl responded, her voice slightly muffled by the wall between them. “I come by here on colder days to help keep my body temperature up.”

“Ah. I see.” Izuku nodded. Why did he nod? She couldn’t see him. “That makes sense.”

“...”

“It’s uh, it’s weird.” The boy continued. “I think this is the first time you and I have really talked since I got back.”

“...”

“So are you still doing your internship with-”

“Midoriya, if you aren’t going to, I’m just going to address it. Yes, I heard you talking to yourself just now. No, I’m not going to tell anyone about it. And yes, I’m still doing my internship with Ryukyu.”

“Oh…” Izuku felt simultaneous dread and relief. “Th-Thank you.”

“It’s no problem. As long as it isn’t hurting anyone, what you do in private is your business alone and I won’t judge you for it.”

“I don’t suppose you’d believe me if I told you I was talking on the phone just now, would you?”

“No, kero.”

Good old Asui. As blunt as ever. But Izuku knew that she was a good person and spreading rumors behind someone’s back was the last thing she would ever do. So when she said she would keep his secret, he knew he could trust her.

“Well… I’m more than a little embarrassed.” Izuku admitted sheepishly.

“You don’t need to be.” The girl assured him. “We… We all have parts of us that we’d rather have others not see.”

“...”

“...”

“Is everything alright, Tsu?” Izuku asked, his worries over himself quickly being overtaken by worries for his friend. “I don’t mean to sound rude but you’ve seemed… distant lately.”

He had noticed it over the past week, but only now was something beginning to click in Izuku’s mind. The girl barely spoke during lunch or hero training, and hardly spent much time with others in the lounge, usually going straight to her room after classes.

“H-Huh?” Asui sounded as though she was blindsided by the question. “N-No, I’m fine. Just… feeling under the weather, kero. I apologize if you feel like I’ve been avoiding you. I just can’t seem to shake this cold.”

“Oh, alright.” Izuku nodded once again. “I understand. I… hope you feel better soon.”

“Thank you, kero.”

Izuku really hoped that was all this was, just a cold that the girl was struggling to get over with. If that was the case, it would make sense to come here and warm the body as well as soak in some vitamins.

“...”

Pausing for a moment, a thought suddenly occurred to Izuku, one that he probably should have arrived at a lot sooner.

Asui was naked.

So was he.

And the only thing separating them right now was half an inch of cedar wood.

Overcome by the sudden realization, as well as the imagery that accompanied it, Izuku cupped a hand over his mouth as his eyes went wide. Logically this shouldn’t have been too big of a deal, given that neither party could actually see the other and their conversation hadn’t really gone anywhere sexual in nature.

But this was the same boy who almost had a panic attack the first time he talked to a girl on the phone.

“Um, I-I-I should go now, it’s… getting a bit hot for me here.” Izuku stammered, slowly backing away from the wall. “G-Goodnight, Asui-san.” He gave a slight bow ( again, why? ) before wading through the water back to the door, making a very loud swishing noise as he left.

Over on her side of the wall, Asui looked down at her reflection in the water, revealing the toxic blue splotches that had crept their way across her entire body even encompassing her face.

“... Goodnight, Izuku-chan.”

Kyoka Jirou sat alone in her room, hunched over her studying desk as she absent-mindedly twirled her pencil between her fingers. She had a textbook in front of her that she hadn’t managed to read a single word of the entire day.

She hadn’t really done anything today besides sit in her room and try not to think about the past. Which, of course, only made her think about it more.

The Villain War, All for One, the faces of her friends, of herself , contorted into maniacal nightmarish versions of themselves as they swarmed her in droves with the intent to kill. Kyoka’s hands felt ice cold, her legs were trembling, the pencil in her hand clattered against the desk before rolling onto the floor, but the girl couldn’t find the strength to bend down and pick it up.

She felt frozen, as though all the blood in her body had been drained away. Weakly, she slumped forward onto her desk, wrapping her arms over her head.

‘Why?’ Kyoka asked herself. ‘Why is it just me? Am I just that pathetic?’

The feeling of fear that gripped her heart was quickly overtaken by another emotion.

Anger.

Anger at herself for her own weakness. Anger at the villains who shoved this spike of fear into her heart. Anger at Midoriya… for reminding her of it all.

It wasn’t just that the boy reminded her of All for One, of feeling hopeless against an impossibly powerful foe. It was that he reminded her of everything. Everything that happened during the war, everything leading up to it, just… everything. Every terrible incident Class 1-A was faced with, Izuku Midoriya was always somehow at the epicenter of it.

She knew none of it was his fault and in every case he had actively been working to stop those terrible incidents, but knowing that only made her more frustrated.

How was it that he could just… just deal with it all? His experiences no doubt outweighed Kyoka’s own by a landslide, and yet he didn’t just find the strength to get out of bed every day, he leapt out of it. Everything just seemed to roll off his back. No fear, no restlessness, no horrible nightmares.

Was that strength what made him a hero?

What did that make her?

*knock* *knock* *knock*

A soft tapping at her door snapped Kyoka out of her rapidly descending train of thought.

Letting out a soft sigh, the girl weakly pushed her chair back and stood up, moving to answer the door. Opening the door, Kyoka saw that it was one Momo Yaoyorozu, now standing outside of her room. Quickly averting her gaze to hide her blush, Kyoka gulped.

“U-Um, h-hey, Yaomomo.” The punk girl greeted the heiress. “I uh, I called in sick to work like you suggested. I… probably wouldn’t have been much use there anyway. Sorry for, y’know, giving you sh*t about it earlier. I know you were just looking out for me.” Finally working up the courage to look up at the girl, Kyoka was stunned as she met Momo’s eyes.

They were red and quivering, stained with wet mascara that was running down her cheeks. Her hands were at her sides and even they were shaking.

“Momo?”

“J-Jirou-san, *sniff* C-Can I talk to you?” The taller girl asked, her voice shaking. “I-I… I really need a friend right now.”

Chapter 8: Love Rollercoaster

Chapter Text

The Yaoyorozu family mansion was quiet. Its large and expansive halls were only populated by the occasional maid dusting the knick-knacks or wiping down the tables. It was a Sunday and most of the staff were home with their families.

The lack of people made the footsteps of one girl echo all the more against the marble floor as she furiously stomped through the halls.

“Is it true, Father?!” Momo Yaoyorozu burst into her father’s office, a serious expression on her face. “Is this true?!” She held up her phone in front of the man’s face.

On the screen was the viral video that was quickly spreading across Japan, giving all of the country’s discontent citizens a new target for their ire, the Yaoyorozu family.

Haruto Yaoyorozu stared back at his daughter for a moment, his eyes glancing down at the phone screen before returning to the girl. Setting down the pen in his hand, he let out a sigh.

The older man was dressed in a gray cashmere sweater with a dress shirt and tie beneath, it was his one day of the week out of the office and that was about as informal as his attire got. His salt and pepper hair was beginning to thin with age. That, or perhaps the stress inherent to his job had led to the once handsome man showing signs of aging early into his forties. There were wrinkles forming around his forehead and near-permanent purple bags beneath his eyes, the product of countless sleepless nights working at his computer. The man was nothing if not committed to his career.

“Momo, you can’t take everything you see on the internet at face value.” He began, but his daughter cut him off.

“Is it true?” The girl repeated, her expression dropping. “Did… Did the Yaoyorozu Conglomerate really fund the Meta-Liberation Army?”

Removing his glasses, the man pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a sigh.

“It isn’t that simple.” He began, glancing back up at his daughter. “You have to understand, when I first met Yotsubashi, he wasn’t ‘Re-Destro’, he was just an ordinary businessman, moreover, he was a good man. Detnerat didn’t just supply support items for heroes, their products helped plenty of ordinary citizens whose quirks made their lives more difficult. I didn’t… I had no idea what was lying beneath the surface of that company or that man.”

“Did you even think to look?! The man is a murderer! His family was the head of a cult! And you helped give him the power to topple a country! ” Momo accused.

Reaching across his desk, the man grabbed a matryoshka doll sitting near the corner, looking down at the item in his hand, he responded.

“You were probably too young to remember, but he had dinner with us at the house once. You had only just discovered your quirk back then and were popping these out every five minutes. Yotsubashi was quite impressed by the display. He mentioned something off-hand about a future where kids like you had the freedom to express your natural talents, but I didn’t interpret it the way that he probably meant it. Looking back, I should have approached him with a more critical eye, but it was a different time back then. A time of peace. People weren’t constantly throwing around threats and accusations like now.”

Momo’s father pushed his daughter’s phone away and set down the doll, a sad look in his eye.

“... And the new building codes?” Momo finally spoke up, her expression still hardened. “You lobbied for several Diet members to support a new bill that overhauled safety protocols for the reconstruction effort following the war.”

“Yes, I did.” Haruto nodded. “The Villain War revealed just how unprepared we are for disasters of this nature. I and many others saw it as a prudent issue that needed to be addressed. It seemed the best choice to ensure our country’s future safety.”

“ Safety?! Father, it’s filled with nothing but red tape to impede smaller construction companies from completing their work! The only companies that can keep up with these harsh regulations are ones that you own!”

“And is that a direct quote from the people trying to slander us or did you read this bill yourself?” The man retorted. “These new building codes will make our cities safer against villain attacks, it wouldn’t have been drafted in the first place if it didn’t.”

“There’s a close friend of mine, a future hero , whose family is struggling to make ends meet right now because of the new regulations that bill put in place. Tens of thousands are still without homes because the reconstruction effort is taking so long! Is it safe for them to be sleeping in the streets?!”

Shooting up from his seat the man slammed his hands down on the desk.

“And what would you have me do, Momo?!” Haruto demanded. “Do you have any idea how much we lost in the Villain War?! In the months that followed?! While you’ve been out playing hero with your friends, I’ve been working tirelessly to hold the Yaoyorozu Conglomerate and its businesses together!”

“To protect your own assets!” Momo yelled back.

“To protect the people who our businesses employ! ” Haruto countered. “Do you know how many employees fall under the Yaoyorozu Conglomerate’s umbrella? Eight-hundred and sixty-eight thousand! Paychecks, pensions, insurance policies, all of them require a steady flow of capital that I need to ensure is maintained, even in a crisis! Those people need money to provide for their families, just like anyone else! I know what that’s like. I know how it feels to have nothing because I had nothing, and I worked hard to make sure that my child wouldn’t have to know that.”

Momo took a step back from the desk, her mouth open but no words forming.

“I’m not a hero, Momo. I can’t save everyone.” The man lamented, his tone softening. “So I have to focus on protecting my own. That means you and your mother first and foremost, and then the people who have helped us get to where we are in life. Do you understand?”

Tears forming in her eyes, Momo nodded her head. Her father stepped out from behind his desk and opened his arms up to her, walking forward, he embraced his crying daughter who hesitantly returned the hug.

“I *sniff* I don’t know what *sniff* what to do, Father.”

“Shhh, it’s okay.” Haruto assured his daughter, a gentle hand patting her head.

“They… They hate me, and I don’t know how to fix it.” The girl finally admitted, struggling to form the words behind her tears.

“You just have to do what you always do.”

“... What’s that?”

“The best that you can.”

“And that’s… essentially all of it.” Momo explained as she finished recounting her story, wiping a stray tear from her eye.

“Wow, I… Momo, I’m so sorry.” Kyoka gave her best friend a look of sympathy.

The pair were seated on the punk girl’s bed with Kyoka herself sitting with her legs hung over the side while Momo sat cross-legged with her back to the headboard. Between them was a bowl of grapes that Kyoka kept in her mini-fridge for a snack.

“No, I should be the one who’s sorry.” Momo softly placed a hand to her chest. “Here I am trying to warrant sympathy from you for my own problems, meanwhile you should be focused on your recovery. I apologize.”

The raven-haired girl bowed her head.

It was the middle of the night now, over an hour since the heiress had first arrived at Kyoka’s doorstep. Momo had washed her face off in the bathroom, so her complexion was no longer smeared with wet mascara. Notably, it meant that her scar was visible again, which the other girl couldn’t help but fixate on.

“How about we both just accept the others’ apology and move on?” Kyoka suggested with a half-smile.

Momo let out a soft chuckle before nodding her head in agreement.

“Excellent idea as always, Jirou-san.”

“...”

“...”

The two girls sat in silence for a moment before Momo reached for a grape out of the bowl. Kyoka, unsure of what to do next, decided it was her turn to speak up.

“You know, you um, you can call me by my given name if you want, M-Momo.” The punk girl’s face blushed as she nervously fiddled with her jacks. “We’ve all been calling you by your’s for a while now.”

“Oh!” The heiress’s eyes widened and she quickly covered her mouth before she finished chewing. “I hadn’t really considered it before now. I… I suppose it’s only fair, Kyoka-san .”

` Kyoka blushed at hearing her name, even if Momo had still included the honorifics. Her jacks unconsciously tapped together happily as the punk girl looked away shyly.

“S-So then, um… Did talking about this, umm help at all?” She asked softly, her eyes returning to her raven-haired friend. “I-I do realize that there’s still a larger issue at hand but…”

“It did.” Momo nodded her head. “Even if only a little, I feel… relieved of some of the burden. I… don’t really know how I can even begin to fix this mess, but it felt nice to, to cry about it, to have someone be there with me through it.”

“Glad I could… help.” Kyoka replied. “If you ever need anything, I know I can’t really offer much but,” She lifted up her earphone jacks in front of her face. “I am a pretty good listener.”

Momo couldn’t help but let out a snort at the corny joke, quickly covering her mouth and turning away to preserve her dignity. Kyoka couldn’t help but smile a little at that.

“But seriously,” The punk girl clarified. “Anything you need, I’m here for you.”

“W-Well um, *ahem* I-If it isn’t too rude… No, nevermind, it’s… childish.”

“Momo.”

“I-I was just wondering,” The heiress hesitated, not daring to meet Kyoka’s gaze. “W-Would you mind if I… slept over tonight?”

Kyoka nearly tripped over herself, despite the fact that she was sitting down.

“asjfsnhsjfhOKAY!”

“Ten-thirty-one in progress. We have a ten-thirty-one in progress.” The officer spoke into his radio as three shots cracked the glass of the front windshield.

*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*

“Shots fired! Shots fired!” His partner yelled from the passenger seat.

“f*ck you, pigs!” One of the robbers yelled as he leaned out the passenger window. Rolling down his sleeve with his free hand, firing his gun with the other. The man smiled behind his balaclava as his quirk activated, producing a stream of caltrops from his arm that fell into the road behind him.

Unable to avoid the sudden obstacle, the officers’ car swerved as two of its tires were popped by the spikes, coming to a halt as the robbers’ vehicle continued to speed away into the night.

“sh*t! We need backup!” The officer reported, stepping out of his squad car to assess the damage. “Criminals are fleeing onto-”

“On it!” A girl’s voice called from behind the officers.

Turning to the source, the pair were caught by surprise when a large drone suddenly flew by just above their heads, causing them to duck in response. Their surprise was only further exacerbated by the young girl being dragged along behind the drone by a meter-long metal cable.

“What the-?” One of the officers looked up, bewildered by the scene.

Ochako Uraraka grit her teeth in determination as her drone accelerated through the air, quickly closing the distance between her and the fleeing car. The robbers seemed to believe they had made a clean getaway, but in their haste, had neglected to check for any pursuers from above.

That mistake would be their undoing.

With a clear line of sight on her target and no possible escape routes on the one-way road, Ganymede let out a series of beeps and flashes that Ochako understood as a ‘cleared-for-landing’ signal. Nodding in response, the girl braced herself as the drone made a sudden turn mid-air. The force of tension along the cable slingshotted the weightless Ochako forward just as she loosed the cable from the drone.

*CLUNK!*

Ochako released her quirk’s effect on herself as she landed on the car’s roof. The brunette stumbled for a moment before regaining her footing and crouching down to reduce wind resistance.

“The f*ck?!” The criminal in the passenger seat leaned out the window again, shocked to see a hero standing atop his speeding vehicle.

“Uh, hi?” Ochako offered as the man recovered from his surprise, reaching for his gun.

The girl was too quick to let him, however, and fired another cable from her bracer that shot straight forward, hitting the man’s wrist and knocking the weapon out of his hand. Then, turning her attention back to the car, the anti-gravity hero slammed both hands into the roof, immediately causing the vehicle to become weightless. In less than a second, the car lifted off the ground and rapidly ascended.

“Whoawhoawhoa!” The criminal in the passenger seat panicked as he lost his balance and fell out of the car. Luckily, Ochako had spread her Zero Gravity to everything inside of the car as well, so rather than tumble five meters to the ground, the man twirled through the air, weightless, extremely confused, and yelling out profanities.

“Io, Europa, you wanna go grab that guy?” Ochako reached to her hips and pressed a button on either side, causing the faulds of her hero suit to unfold into two more drones which beeped in response before moving to capture the floating criminal.

“What the hell is going on?!” A grating voice yelled from inside the car.

All of a sudden, the roof of the driver’s side split open as a large blade pierced the metal. The roof split in half as the driver hoisted himself up to the roof, standing shakily on the roof as he adjusted to zero gravity. To Ochako’s surprise, the man wasn’t holding a blade, but rather his head was a massive knife. He didn’t have eyes or a nose or a mouth or anything. From the neck up he was just… knife .

“Damn heroes!!!” The driver lunged forward, attempting to run Ochako through on his blade.

Better trained and more accustomed to being weightless, the anti-gravity hero quickly sidestepped, grabbing the man by the arm and pinning it behind his back, pressing his face(?) against the roof of the car.

Gunhead Martial Arts: Best internship ever.

“You’re under arrest. Give it up.” Ochako advised, quickly subduing the man’s other arm.

“Grrr!”

A few minutes later and back on the ground, the brunette watched carefully as the criminals’ car slowly approached the ground, its tires only an inch or so off the road.

“Aaaand Release. ” Ochako breathed out a sigh as the car regained its gravity, letting out a creaking sound as it landed on the ground. “Okay, that oughta do it.”

“That was… wow. Certainly something.” One of the officers from earlier commented, looking from the car over to the two restrained criminals.

“Definitely my weirdest arrest.” The other nodded. “But it’ll make a great story around the water cooler.”

“Was it really that odd? I thought the police worked with heroes all the time?” Ochako raised a curious eyebrow.

“Well yeah, but I mean… not like this .” The officer briefly looked at his partner before turning back to Ochako. “No offense, but most of the time when we deal with pro heroes, they’re tripping over each other to be the first to catch a purse snatcher. All of them trying to turn a petty crime into a big dramatic battle to get on the news. Nothing like this. You were like, an actual hero.”

“O-Oh yeah?” The brunette found herself blushing at the compliment.

“I guess if any good came out of the Villain War, it separated the real heroes from the wannabes.”

A memory suddenly flashed in Ochako’s mind, one of the first day of the Villain War. Jaku. Ground Zero.

“I give up… I can’t do this, it’s just too much. I quit. I don’t wanna be a hero anymore.” The man whimpered as he stared out into the chaos and destruction around him, overwhelmed by it all.

Quickly snapping back to reality, Ochako held up her hands innocently.

“U-Um, I’m just… glad I could help.” She assured them.

“Well if this is the new normal, I could definitely get used to it.”

“Beep boop. Beepbeepbeep!” Ganymede suddenly blinked its lights at Ochako, returning to its master. Its singular camera eye stared back at her expectantly.

“Good boy, Ganymede.” The girl smiled, patting the top of the floating white drone. It responded with a delighted series of beeps before excitedly flying around in a circle, then darting behind Ochako and clipping itself into place in her costume, becoming a sort-of backpack.

After a complete tech overhaul, courtesy of one Mei Hatsume, the anti-gravity hero really stepped up her support gear game. She still wore her pink and black jumpsuit from her first year, but now it sported white and pink armored plating made of a durable polymer. Several pieces of said armor could separate and become her four drones: Ganymede, Io, Europa, and Callisto.

The drones were very heavy despite their relatively small size and could only stay afloat with Ochako’s quirk, steering themselves by releasing compressed air from tiny built-in jets, but that only made them pack more of a punch in combat. Their artificial intelligence on the other hand, was around that of a well-trained dog, able to understand most commands given, but unable to communicate beyond beeps and basic emotes. Apparently this was an intentional choice by Hatsume herself who held a deep dislike of robots that could talk back. Still, the drones’ idiosyncrasies had grown on Ochako and she found the way they acted quite cute.

“So,” One of the officers leaned back against the car casually, smiling at Ochako. “Are you doing anything after this or…?”

“...”

“...”

“Um, sir?” Ochako raised her hand, an embarrassed blush on her face. “I’m… still in high school.”

“... Oh.” The officer froze up with a deer-in-the-headlights look. “I… I just meant that a-a um, a young girl err- lady such as yourself… s-should be in bed by this hour, um it’s a school night, isn’t it?”

“Uh… yeah. I should be going now. Have a good night… officers.” The hero waved to the two officers before quickly walking away from the awkward situation.

Truth be told, she probably should’ve been in bed by now. Ochako had been on patrol for almost the entire day with only an hour-long break for lunch at noon. Ryukyu had advised against her working such long hours, but given the current shortage of heroes, the Dragoon Hero couldn’t exactly bench one of her sidekicks without proper cause and a heaping stack of paperwork.

It felt wrong to butt heads with her mentor, but things were getting bad for Ochako’s parents and she knew that only she could help them in their time of need. The money she was making right now was nice, but it was just a bandage for a much larger problem. What Ochako really needed more than anything right now, was experience .

She needed to make it big, become a household name, and secure a large enough salary to ensure that her parents could retire in comfort. The scope of her ambitions may have grown since she first entered U.A. but that didn’t mean she had lost sight of her original goal as a hero.

Ochako let out a tired sigh as she arrived back at the Ryukyu agency. It was mostly empty now with only the night staff on duty monitoring the phones and street cameras and the custodian mopping up the floors. Of course, all heroes at the agency were expected to be on-call for any emergencies that may come up, but generally they got plenty of time to rest between shifts now that the country’s darkest days were behind them.

“Uravity.” A friendly voice greeted the girl. Standing next to the front desk was a woman with short-cropped silver hair dressed in a black bodysuit, face mask, and green scarf.

“Chiyome-san, hi.” Ochako nodded at the woman.

Chiyome was the most senior among Ryukyu’s sidekicks, having been at the hero’s side since the agency first came about. Apparently, Ryukyu had been the younger girl’s senpai back in school and the two had formed a lasting friendship.

The kunoichi hero had a simple quirk, Shuko, which could make four iron claws extend out from the palm of either hand, each claw only about an inch in length. Its only real uses were for climbing and close-combat, but combined with her well-honed skills, it made her a cunning and agile hero.

“Clocking out for the night?” The woman in question asked.

“Gotta sleep sometime, right?” The brunette forced a laugh. Walking over to the front desk, she inserted her provisional license into the card reader, waiting for a moment before the light turned from red to green, successfully clocking her out.

“Yeah…” The older woman paused for a moment before speaking again. “Look, I know you and Ryukyu had a disagreement this morning, but… look if you ever need someone to talk to, about anything -”

“I appreciate the offer, but really I’m fine, Chiyome. Really.” Ochako assured the woman with a smile. Pulling her license free from the reader, she moved toward the locker room.

Upon entering, she saw that the room was empty, save for her. Shutting the door behind her, Ochako closed her eyes and gritted her teeth, her fist clenched at her side.

“I’m not some charity case you need to look after.” She whispered to herself.

Removing her headgear, she carefully set it on a bench in the center of the room before sitting down to remove her shoes. Thankfully, their design had been compressed over time, making them more like a large pair of sneakers rather than enormous clunky boots. Slipping out of those, she detached the armored pieces of her costume next, leaving her in just her jumpsuit.

*VRRR!* *VRRR!*

Ochako was halfway through pulling her front zipper down when a buzz from her phone caught her attention. Flipping it open, she saw that it was a text from Deku. Curious, she clicked the button to open it.

‘Hey, srry, I know its late but I heard u wer still at internshp.’

The brunette let out a sigh. If she had to hear one more person offer to talk…

*VRRR!* *VRRR!*

‘Wish I could get out ther too! So jelous!’

A small smile graced the girl’s face as she texted back. Talking to Deku always made her feel better, he was just perfect like that.

‘Too bad! ;P Better hit the books, Mr. Perfect!’

Chuckling at her own response, she hit the ‘Send’ button.

*VRRR!* *VRRR!*

‘Yeah haha honestly havent studied in over a year so its hard to get back in the groove.’

*VRRR!* *VRRR!*

Another message instantly followed the first.

‘Wait, Mr. Perfect? Whats that supposed to mean?’

Ochako’s pupils instantly shrank.

‘Oh god, I’ve made a terrible mistake.’

‘Just mean how like u were always top of the class before haha.’ Ochako quickly typed, doing what damage control she could for the situation. ‘If u need help at all, I think I have some graded tests from last year somewhere.’

*VRRR!* *VRRR!*

Her heart pumping loudly in her ears, she read the message.

‘[]’

A blank box?

*VRRR!* *VRRR!*

‘Srry, just tried sending thumbs up emoji, forgot u have a flip phone. That’d be great! I’ll let you go now. Have a good night?”

*VRRR!* *VRRR!*

‘Srry, *Have a good night!’

‘U too!’

Setting her phone down, Ochako let out a dreamy sigh.

What did she do to deserve such an amazing guy for a friend? Seriously, Deku was something else, he was born to be a hero, it was in his nature. He had always been amazing, from the day they first met, but only became more so over time. And seeing him after he got back from his trip? Dear god. The boy who she remarked as ‘plain-looking’ back in the entrance exam had developed a body like a Greek god , standing well over a foot taller than Ochako now. And his face? Everything about him was sculpted to perfection.

Just thinking how he could pick her up and-

“Uuuummmf!”

Ochako caught herself as a moan escaped her lips. Looking down, she realized that her hands were cupping her breasts, now only clothed by her pink bra as her skintight costume had been shed from the waist up. She could feel her hardened nipples through the fabric, the locker room’s ambient cold air doing nothing to help her situation.

Quickly turning her head from side to side, the brunette confirmed that she was alone in the room before letting out a sigh of relief. Glancing back down at herself, Ochako could feel the slight dampness that had built up in her panties, her breathing was heavy, and her skin ached to be touched more.

It had been such a long, stressful , day.

Running her hands down the sides of her stomach, she let out a soft groan as her soft fingers massaged her tired muscles. As her left hand brushed over her stomach, the girl felt the tender flesh where Himiko Toga had pierced her with a knife, burying it to the hilt before painfully tearing it out. Holding her hand in place, Ochako’s mind drifted back to her encounter with the girl, their struggle, Ochako’s near-death.

“Does it still hurt?” A husky voice asked from the back of her mind as the girl felt a strong but gentle hand cup around her own.

Closing her eyes, the brunette inhaled sharply.

“Sometimes. When I remember…” She responded with a heavy breath. Turning her head, she felt the same warm, comforting presence she had imagined on several cold nights like this one. Fluffy green hair tickled her cheek, and the scarred, crooked hand holding her own trailed up her body.

“You were so brave.” The imaginary Deku spoke softly. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there to help.”

Silently, Ochako shook her head.

“I can’t keep relying on you to fight my battles for me. I’m a hero, just like you, I might not have saved the world like you, but-”

“Shhh.” Izuku silenced the girl, placing a finger to her mouth. “Don’t compare yourself to me, or to anyone. You’re you. You’re Uravity. And you’re incredible.”

Her hand still cupped in Deku’s, the boy began to slowly move it downward, her thumb brushing over her navel before it stopped at her costume’s zipper, pulled down to just above her hips. Ochako hesitated for a moment, but Deku’s hand guided hers below the skin-tight suit, brushing her fingers over her cotton panties. An excited shiver ran throughout the girl’s body as her own fingers began rubbing circles over the dampened area. Placing her free hand over her right breast, she teased her hardened nipple between her thumb and index finger.

“There’s a good girl.” The boy’s voice spoke with an audible grin.

“Mmmmf!” Ochako bit down hard on her lower lip, attempting to stifle the moan that threatened to escape her throat. Quickening the pace of her rubbing, she felt herself nearing her climax as her legs began to shake in anticipation.

“Come on ‘Chako, just a little more.”

With one final, furious dash to the finish, a wave of calm washed over the girl as her body relaxed, leaving her limbs feeling like jelly.

It was… embarrassing how quickly Ochako could get herself off. The young brunette didn’t really make much of a habit of relieving herself often, primarily due to lacking the means to do so, mostly just having to rely on her own imagination and fingers rather than toys or the internet. Because of her lack of experience, she didn’t really have much… stamina in that regard, which made the thought of finally sharing the experience with another person more than a little nerve-wracking.

Of course, the person she wanted to share it with was obvious. Nowadays, most of the girl’s sexual fantasies were centered around Japan’s up and coming star. But the thought of actually confronting him about said feelings was… terrifying . And it gradually became more and more terrifying as time went on and Deku’s fame only grew.

The problem was only made worse by the fact that Ochako was absolutely the jealous type. Any time another girl flirted with Deku or put their hands on him, alarm bells went off in her head that made her want to scream at them to stay away, that he was her’s . It was a disturbing, very Toga-like thought that Ochako was ashamed of.

Between the bottled up feelings and her family’s current financial troubles, Ochako was a bundle of nerves, even the high from her org*sm had already faded and been replaced with more creeping anxious thoughts invading her mind.

She just needed to get through this year, then things would be alright. She could finally find some financial stability for her family and then Deku… Oh who was she kidding? She didn’t have a shot with him! He was the most famous man in the world! She was a complete mess of a human being!

Ochako hugged her knees to her chest, pressing her nose against her soft bust.

Why did she have to be like this? Why did she have to be herself? Why couldn’t she be rich and elegant like Yaomomo or Shoko? Or outspoken like Katsumi or Tsu?

Why did she have to be… this ?

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

“Gah!” The brunette panicked falling from the bench and onto the floor. “...Ouch.”

“Uravity? You alright in there?” Chiyome asked before peeking her head into the locker room.

“Yep!” Ochako winced before holding up a thumbs up. “All good!”

Kinoko Komori was troubled.

The previous day’s events weighed heavily on her mind. When she heard that Yaoyorozu had been asked to leave the Little Miss Hero Pageant due to ‘ behavioral issues ’, it was clear that something was up. The constant whispering among the parents did little to help the situation. Even asking the event director proved fruitless as she had been tight lipped about the reason for Yaoyorozu’s sudden departure.

Kinoko had elected to finish the pageant, if only because she could appreciate the work that was put in by those involved, but it still sat wrong with her.

As she finished her morning chores at the campus greenhouse, Kinoko wiped the sweat from her brow, pushing up her long brunette bangs in the process. Taking care of the plants and fungi usually helped clear the girl’s mind of any problems, but this was a special case. It wasn’t her own problems that she was worried about.

Stepping outside of the greenhouse, Kinoko spotted a familiar pair of figures running along the campus trail.

“M-Midoriya! Todoroki!” She called out to the duo without really thinking.

The two turned to the shorter girl, finding her waving them down. As they approached, the green-haired boy had a bright smile on his face while the dual-haired girl looked indifferent as usual.

“Komori, hi, what’s up?” Midoriya greeted, his chest slightly heaving as he caught his breath.

For a moment, Kinoko couldn’t help but ogle the eye candy in front of her. The boy had muscles galore and didn’t put much effort into Hydnum. (Mushroom pun!) Kinoko wasn’t exactly boy-crazy like one Yui Kodai, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t appreciate art when she saw it.

“Um hello,” She greeted awkwardly, unsure of how to broach the subject. “Neither of you happened to see Yaoyorozu yesterday, did you? Some time in the evening?”

“Sorry,” Midoriya apologized. “I can’t say I did.”

“Me neither.” Todoroki shook her head. “Why do you ask? Is something wrong?”

“I’m… not entirely sure yet -shroom.” Kinoko confessed. “Just a little concerned at the moment. She disappeared from the pageant yesterday and I haven’t heard from her since.”

“Really? That’s odd. She seemed like she was looking forward to it.” Todoroki placed a hand to her chin. “We’ll let her know you asked about her.”

“Thank you -shroom. I would appreciate that.” Kinoko smiled, feeling a bit of weight leave her shoulders. “... So then, I hope I didn’t interrupt anything between the two of you.”

With the sudden change in subject, the green-haired boy before her was caught off guard, recoiling slightly.

“No, j-just jogging.” Midoriya clarified, embarrassed by the assumption.

“We wouldn’t do anything lewd in public.” The girl next to him chimed in, stone faced.

“Oooo, so you two are an item? Getting up to something spicy afterward? Amanita all the details!” Kinoko said with a sly smirk. (Two for two, let’s go!)

“T-Todoroki! Don’t give her the wrong idea!” The boy’s freckled cheeks burned red in embarrassment, flailing his hands. “W-We aren’t like that!”

The dual-haired girl let a small smile show on her face, surprising Kinoko. It looked as though Class A’s Ice Queen had a sense of humor after all, Monoma certainly lost that bet.

“Well, I’ve gotta go get ready for class, and I assume the two of you would like to finish… ‘jogging’ as well.”

“Komori please.” Midoriya begged.

“Sorry, sorry.” Kinoko couldn’t help but snicker. As she moved to leave however, a thought came to mind. “Oh uh, one more thing. Midoriya? Could I talk to you for a second? Alone?”

“Uhh y-yeah, I guess so… As long as there’s no more teasing.”

“No promises.”

It was just too fun when the boy was such a Blusher . (That one was also a mushroom pun believe it or not.)

The boy turned to Todoroki and nodded, causing the girl to shrug before leaving to continue her run. Before she left however, Kinoko noticed the icy-hot girl shoot a glance toward Midoriya then to Kinoko herself before finally exiting. Was she…? No, she couldn’t have thought… Her? With Midoriya?

“So uh, was there something you needed from me?” The green-haired boy broke the silence between them, looking down at her from above.

Now that they were alone, the height difference between them felt very pronounced. Her, the shortest girl among the third years, and him, now one of the tallest boys in the entire school, not to mention how big and buff he had gotten. Her head was pretty much level with his-

“Hmm? Oh, r-right.” Kinoko mentally slapped herself. “Okay, so the thing is, I do a little um, show on the internet, j-just for fun is all.” She explained, inexplicably nervous all of the sudden.

“A show?” Midoriya tilted his head curiously.

“Yeah, y’know, a bit of Q and A with the fans, show off my quirk a bit, nothing bad or anything. I wouldn’t give out important information about the school or our classmates!”

“Okay,” He nodded. “I follow so far.”

“And well… I was thinking it would really help boost my viewership if I had a…” Kinoko gestured to Midoriya’s whole body. “Celebrity guest star. And seeing as you’re pretty much the biggest celebrity in the world right now…”

“I… I see.” The boy placed a hand to his chin, thinking for a moment. “So um, Mr. Aizawa told me I couldn’t do any interviews until I’ve caught up on my studies, aaaand if I’m being honest, they aren’t really my forte to begin with.”

“It doesn’t have to be an interview!” Kinoko quickly interjected. “You really just have to show up on camera a-and maybe say hello to a few of my viewers if they make a donation!”

Midoriya paused again, seemingly debating the topic in his head. Kinoko decided to sweeten the pot.

“Look I-I promise I won’t ask for anything else from you for the rest of your month as Class B’s servant, and I’ll even help get Monoma off your back. Please, Midoriya?”

“... That would be nice…” Midoriya muttered to himself quietly before finally coming to a decision. “Alright, I’ll do it.” He nodded firmly before a look of worry came over his face. “J-Just please don’t make me do anything too embarrassing. I’m still seeing clips from my last interview getting memed online.”

“Of course!” Kinoko nodded eagerly.

“Then I guess we have a deal.” Midoriya smiled at her, causing the girl to beam happily.

“Hell yeah!” Kinoko pumped her fists. “That’s what I’m shiitake’n about!”

“SoiflasttimeIusedGearShifttotrytospeedupmythoughtsmaybewecanavoidbacklashbyincorporatingFaJinand-”

“Midoriya.” A voice snapped Izuku out of his mumbling.

“Ah! Oh s-sorry, Mr. Ectoplasm.” Izuku bowed to the clone of his teacher.

“You’ve been standing in place for some time now, is there something you require help with?”

“Just trying to figure something out with my quirk, s-sir.”

“The best way to learn is to do. So why not try testing it out?”

“Because I’m… slightly terrified of giving myself a brain hemorrhage in the process.”

Ectoplasm didn’t say anything in response for a solid ten seconds, his skull-like face was unreadable.

“Everything that comes out of your mouth disturbs and frightens me, Midoriya.” He finally admitted.

“Sorry sir.” The boy apologized.

“Regardless, this time is meant for students to refine their physical abilities, so I’m afraid you’ll have to brainstorm on your own time. For now, try practicing something less dangerous.”

“Yes sir.” Izuku nodded before taking a few steps back, turning to the cement wall in front of him. “Okay, let’s… practice some flicks then. I’ve been wanting to incorporate Smokescreen into Air Force for a while now, if I’m right, the added mass and air resistance should-”

“Midoriya.”

“Sorry sir! I’ll get started!”

Izuku set to work improving Air Force, stopping to take notes after every three shots. He couldn’t quite get the result he was looking for, but that was to be expected, he needed time to experiment and find the right amount of-

“Midori!”

A sudden, familiar weight landed on the boy’s back as two pink arms wrapped around his chest. Instinctively, Izuku moved his arms to support the weight on his back, wrapping his hands around a thick pair of muscled thighs.

“Uh, A-Ashido! Hi, um… whaaat’s going on?” He laughed nervously.

“Ashido, shouldn’t you be training with your own Ectoplasm?” Izuku’s Ectoplasm clone asked, a stern tone in his voice.

“Yeah, he um, kinda… died .” The girl replied before awkwardly adding a quiet apology. Placing a hand on Izuku’s head, she ruffled his fluffy hair. “I was hoping I could get some advice from our resident egghead on how to better improve my control.”

“I-” Izuku began, but was quickly cut off.

“Midoriya has his own work to focus on, if you want advice, you may consult him later. Please remember that this is still a class , Ashido.” Ectoplasm reminded her.

Ashido pouted before climbing down from her spot on Izuku’s back.

“Yes sir.” The girl nodded, turning to leave.

Izuku looked between his classmate and their teacher, hesitating before finally speaking up.

“Actually sir, I’d like to lend Ashido my help if you’ll allow it. I’m kind of in a rut myself at the moment, and talking with others about their quirks has given me inspiration in the past. I believe it would be constructive for the both of us if we collaborated, at least for a short time.” The green-haired boy reasoned.

Ectoplasm seemed to think about it for a moment, (it was hard to tell) before he finally spoke again.

“Alright, the two of you may collaborate, however make sure that you both continue your work and remain within view of the teachers. Some students in the past have been known to use this class to get up to things other than training.” The teacher eyed the pair suspiciously.

Izuku’s cheeks flushed red and, unbeknownst to him, Ashido’s became slightly purple in color.

*BOOOOM!*

An enormous explosion shook the gymnasium.

“It sounds like Ms. Bakugo is in need of more… targets . Please, use your time responsibly. Both of you.” Ectoplasm advised before moving toward the fiery blonde.

Now alone with his classmate, Izuku cleared his throat before turning to face her.

“So, Ashido-err, Pinky, how can I help you?”

“Ooo, codenames? Kinky.” Ashido grinned at him.

“N-No,” Izuku shook his head. “Uh, basically, in a lot of other countries, the whole ‘alias’ thing is taken a lot more seriously. So I figure I should get into the habit of calling everyone by their hero names while we’re in costume. I… still have to get used to it around you guys.”

“Well, I don’t think a secret identity is really in the cards for me, Midori.” The girl held out her arms, showing off her pink skin. “Unless…”

Grabbing her white domino mask from around her neck, she held it up over her eyes.

“Hey. Criminal. Reach for the sky.” Ashido spoke in a gravelly voice, pointing her finger like a gun. “Huh? Who am I? Tch, just a hero trying to make a difference in this crazy world.”

She then lowered the mask back down to her neck.

“Just kidding, it’s me! Mina!” She said with a bright smile. “Although if you’re gonna call me by my hero name, you should know that it’s Xeno-Pink now.” Ashido showed off the patch on her costume’s brown leather jacket which now sported an ‘X-P’ rather than the original ‘P’.

“Oh, really?” Izuku raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, kinda didn’t want to get stuck with something I came up with on the spot two years ago for the rest of my life.” The girl explained.

“I like it.” Izuku smiled.

“ Yeah you do.” Ashido smiled back.

“So, what was it you needed help with?” The boy finally inquired. “You said you wanted to work on control?”

“Yeah,” The girl nodded before holding out her hands. “I’ve been trying out something new, check it out.”

As she spoke, a goopy clear substance formed in her palms before shaping into a sphere a bit smaller than a basketball. Just as the sphere looked done, two tiny eye-like white spheres appeared on its face(?) and two small tendrils stuck out of its head, not too dissimilar from the ears(?) on Izuku’s mask.

“Oh, it’s like a tiny Acid-Man.” Izuku pointed out.

“Acid-Boy.” Ashido announced, holding up the sphere.

“May I?” Izuku asked, holding out his gloved hands.

“Go for it.” She handed over the Acid-Boy. “Not really much danger of it breaking, that’s kinda the problem actually.”

“Ooooh, I get it.” Izuku said as he bounced the slimy ball gently in his hands. “You apply a viscous outer layer with low acidity and fill the inside with much stronger, more fluid acid, right? Like an… ‘acid water balloon’?”

“Damn, got it in one.” Ashido looked impressed. “I knew I was right coming to you, Midori. The issue-”

“The outer layer is too thick, it can’t break without a substantial amount of force applied to a single point.” Izuku finished for her, still studying the object as he squeezed it in his hand. “Err- sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“By all means.” The girl shook her head. “I came because I wanted advice, so anything you can offer would be great. Plus, Tooru’s always singing your praises for helping her out. Maybe you and I could have a similar… breakthrough .” She playfully wiggled her eyebrows.

“H-Hagakure? I wouldn’t say I was much of a help for her. We only practiced a few times before work got in the way. She’s come so far because she’s brilliant and works hard, that’s all.” Izuku clarified, handing Ashido back her Acid-Boy.

“Well, I’ll be sure to tell her you think so.” The pink girl gave a mischievous smile. “In fact, she shouldn’t be practicing too far from us…” Ashido began looking around, trying to spot her invisible friend.

“W-Wait, hold on!” Izuku quickly held up his hands to stop her, his cheeks burning bright red.

“Oh?” Ashido’s mischievous smile became a sinister grin as she turned back to face the green-haired boy. “Why, Midori, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you had feelings for our sweet little Tooru!”

“Eeep!” A squeaking sound came from behind a nearby slab of concrete.

Izuku however, was too shocked by Ashido’s accusation to even notice. His jaw hanging down, he tried to form words but only managed small sounds.

“ Feelings?! ” Izuku repeated with surprise. “I-I-I-I mean… Yeah err, not yeah, I mean, Hagakure is great and fun a-and really pretty. But I mean, I-I’m just a guy she barely knows. We didn’t really spend much time together in our first year, a-and I hardly know anything about her!”

“Duh, dummy!” Ashido threw her hands up. “That’s what dates are for!”

“Wait, now we’re onto dating? Already?! S-Shouldn’t there be a step or two in-between?”

“It’s sounding to me like you’re interested.”

“Wh- I mean- this is all going very fast!” Izuku’s cheeks were burning and his heart was racing.

Did he like Hagakure like that? He hadn’t really… okay he had thought about it. He had thought about it with all of the girls in his class. And admittedly, sometimes he did a little more than think about it. They were all very pretty after all. Something about heroics just seemed to attract beautiful women!

But to actually ask one of them out?

Unthinkable.

Well, until now. He was pretty famous after all, maybe someone would be willing to give him a shot. Unless, of course, that was just all of the fame going to his head. The last thing Izuku wanted was an inflated ego. Or maybe he was being to hard on himself and-

“You seem like you have a lot to think about, why don’t I give you some time?” Ashido offered, taking a step back with her Acid Boy in hand.

“W-Wait, what about training?” Izuku asked, watching the girl slowly back away.

“I’ll give you some time to think about that too. Let me know when you have a breakthrough on either front. I’ll see ya!”

The pink girl waved as she walked away before turning the corner where she had heard the squeak earlier. Gaining a smug grin, she closed her eyes and leaned against the concrete wall, turning to face her friend.

“How about that Toor? I went ahead and set the groundwork for yooooou…” Ashido trailed off as she opened her eyes, now seeing the girl before her. A pair of brown eyes stared back at her with a look of shock and betrayal.

Without saying a word, the girl turned and stormed off, her back to Ashido.

“O-Ochako, wait!”

Shota Aizawa stood in front of his class, his arms crossed. They had just concluded their training for the afternoon and most looked tired and disheveled with dirt and debris coating their costumes. Their expressions were largely varied, anywhere from annoyed to excited.

‘Huh,’ Shota noted mentally. ‘Jirou’s looking more lively than she’s been the past few days. Uraraka on the other hand looks like she wants to tear my head off. Not surprising, given how late she clocked into campus last night. I knew the extra hours were a bad idea.’

“Everyone is now here, Sensei!” Iida reported with a salute. “You may begin your announcement when ready!”

“Thank you, Iida.” Shota nodded to the class representative. “Alright everyone, listen up, I’ve got some news for you all. I figure it’s better that you hear this from me now rather than someone else later on.”

“There’s a first.” Kaminari muttered to Sero next to him.

Aizawa sent a red-eyed glare the boy’s way, causing him to quickly straighten up his posture.

“ S- * ahem* Sorry sir.” The blond apologized, his voice cracking.

“... As you all already know, your last year here at U.A. is going to be structured differently than the others, and this instance is no exception.” Shota explained. “Now it’s still a ways off from now, but given that we’ve just finalized the details, I figure it’s time we talked…”

Shota’s eyes scanned the crowd before him.

“... about the U.A. Sports Festival.”

Chapter 9: That's Life

Chapter Text

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

“Ochako! Can we please talk about this?” Mina Ashido yelled as tapped the back of her knuckles against the brunette’s door.

“...”

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

“I’m not leaving until we talk!”

“...”

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

“I can do this all night, ‘Chako! I don’t care that we have classes in the morning! My grades can’t go much lower!”

Finally, a soft click signified the door unlocking. It cracked open only a few inches and a single eye stared back at Mina with a furrowed brow.

“What is there to talk about, Mina?” Ochako’s voice asked, her voice lacking any emotion. “You made it pretty clear where things stand.”

“Come on! It’s not like I’m trying to steal him away from you!” Mina argued.

“No, you just want to set him up with Tooru. ” The brunette responded, this time with a bit of bite to her.

“You don’t- urgh! Can we please talk face-to-face? It’s, I-I can’t do this through a door. Just please, hear me out a-and I promise I’ll leave you alone afterward, okay?”

“...”

“...”

*THUD*

The door shut directly in Mina’s face, and for a moment the hallway was silent. The horned girl stood in place for a beat, then another, before finally the door opened once again.

A tired and angry-looking Ochako stood in the doorway, clad in her pajamas: an oversized white t-shirt and green pajama pants with a… familiar hero design on them. Her hair was pulled into a messy bun behind her head, several brunette strands hung down on her forehead.

“Fine.” She stated plainly. “Talk.”

Mina gulped before entering the room, seeing that it was as plain as her original room from their first year. If anything, it was even more barren than back then. There was a bed, a desk, a table, a dresser, a poster, and a desk fan… that was it.

“You been taking interior design notes from Shoji or something, girl?” Mina questioned.

“Get out.” Ochako pointed back toward the door.

“Sorry, sorry. Just trying to lighten the mood. I…” Mina trailed off as she considered her words. “Look, Tooru’s my best friend. And last year when she told me she liked Midori, like, like-liked him, I decided I would… help her out a little.”

“Did she ask you to ‘help her out’?” Ochako raised an eyebrow.

“W- I mean, no but-”

“Then why are you interfering with her love life?”

“She… Tooru doesn’t have it in her to ask out Midori, not without encouragement. Her quirk being what it is, she just… doesn’t have any confidence in her own appeal.” Mina explained, her expression turning sad, she gripped one wrist with the opposing hand. “No one would ever really look her way, not the way she wanted them to. All because of how she looked.”

“Mina…” Ochako’s harsh expression softened somewhat.

“Look, I-I know it was sh*tty of me to do this, especially after all of that teasing I did back in our first year. You like Midori too, that much is obvious to anyone with eyes and a functioning brain.”

“ Mina. ” The brunette’s expression hardened again.

“So why haven’t you made a move? You’ve had all the time in the world, he obviously would’ve said yes, so why not?”

“Because I’m terrified, okay?” Ochako admitted.

“Of what? ” Mina questioned. “I just said-”

“I’m terrified that he would say yes to me! I’m terrified that we would go out, and-and get to know each other, and he’d see… me. The real me.”

“What are you talking about, Ochako? What do you mean the real you?”

Ochako pulled down her eyelids and let out a groan of frustration before she collapsed back onto her bed.

“I mean the me who’s me when I’m not being, y’know… Uravity .” She tried to explain. “Deku’s the most amazing guy in the world, he stops runaway trains and beats up supervillains… Yesterday I ate a taco that I dropped on the sidewalk.”

“That doesn’t- Was the taco still in the wrapper?”

“... No.” Ochako admitted shamefully as she sat up on the bed.

“Damn, girl. But look, that doesn’t matter. What matters is that you, Ochako,” Mina poked the girl to accentuate her point. “Are awesome whether you're in or out of costume. I love you, Midori loves you, everybody here loves you. And if you give him a chance, I’m sure that Midori would love you even more if you confessed to him.”

Ochako sniffled, wiping her nose with the back of her hand before looking up at Mina.

“Who are you even rooting for?” She asked, now crossing her arms. “Me or Tooru?”

“I’m rooting for everyone!” Mina replied cheerfully. “Maybe you guys can be a power throuple. And if not, I’m more than willing to provide second place a shoulder to cry on. Honestly, I should be charging Midori by the hour; I’m putting more work into his relationships than he is.”

“Second place, huh?” Ochako looked down again before deciding to change the subject. “So then, w-who do you like, Mina?”

“Me?” The horned girl pointed at herself. “Oh pfft, nah.” She waved off the question. “Long term stuff isn’t my thing. I’m more of a one time hook-up kind of gal.”

“Wait, you mean you don’t see yourself ever being in a committed relationship?” Ochako leaned forward. “That sounds… lonely.”

“Eh, if I ever feel that way I’ll just find some dick or whatever to take my mind off of it.”

Ochako flushed at the bold statement, averting her eyes as she fiddled with her hands.

“So um,” Mina awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck. “Are we… okay?”

“I… I don’t know.” Ochako shrugged, letting out a sigh. “Feelings are weird. I don’t hate you, but I also can’t say that I didn’t feel hurt by what you did. Just give me a little more time to cool off, alright?”

“Alright.” Mina nodded, a frown on her face. “I’ll go now. I’m… Just know that I’m really sorry that I hurt you, Ochako.”

The brunette nodded before holding out her arms.

“Friends?” She asked.

Mina smiled before throwing herself into the shorter girl’s arms.

“Friends.” She agreed, squeezing Ochako tightly. “Your hair smells great by the way.”

“Pfft, weirdo.”

As Kyoka blasted away another one of Hagakure’s clones with a soundwave, she was nearly blinded by the blast of sparkles that accompanied the clone’s destruction.

“Momo!” The Hearing Hero called out. “You find the original yet?”

Blinking away the stars in her vision, she turned her head to see Momo pinned down, a large shield held up to deflect an incoming laser, courtesy of Invisible Girl.

“Urgh! Yes, I believe I found her!” Momo replied, her voice straining from the force.

“Hold on!” Kyoka raised her amps, blasting soundwaves out at the source of the laser.

Hagakure collapsed, holding her hands to her ears. The laser was stopped and Momo was safe. Now she just had to capture Hagakure’s armband and-

*THOOM!*
The ground shook as a dark presence landed on the battlefield, a blackened silhouette stared back at Kyoka with its glowing green eyes. They were angry. And that anger was directed straight at her.

“Mo-mmph!” Kyoka was silenced before she could finish, a black tendril of energy clamped over her mouth. She tried to grab at the tendril but her arms were quickly pinned as well. Then her legs. Finally, her entire vision was swallowed by darkness.

For a moment, everything was black and Kyoka could feel the grip on her tighten. She could breath, but only barely, unable to keep up with the pace of her pounding heartbeat.

Then she saw it.

The darkness around her coalesced back into the shape of the humanoid figure, now it was only the two of them occupying a void, Kyoka collapsed to her knees, only managing to raise her head up toward the figure..

“Weak.” It said, pointing an accusatory finger at her.

“... Yes.” She replied, lowering her gaze.

“Coward.”

“I know.”

“Pathetic.”

“I KNOW!” She screamed out, shutting her eyes tightly and clenching her fists.

“J-J-Jirou!” A sudden voice cried out, causing the girl to open her eyes.

Momo Yaoyorozu was calling out to her in desperation, one hand reaching out in vain while the other clutched at the tendril gripped around her throat. She struggled to break free, but the shadowy figure’s grip only tightened.

“Momo!” Kyoka tried to stand, but found that her legs were stuck in place. “Bastard! Let me go!”

Looking down at her restraints, the girl was shocked to find that there was nothing there. No restraints. No injuries. Nothing.

The only thing keeping her from moving… was herself. Her fear. Her weakness.

“Jirou… p-please…” Momo was losing consciousness.

“JUST STOP IT! STOP! PLEASE!” Kyoka pleaded, tears streaming down her eyes.

“Weak.”

“NOOOO!”

*Crack!*

Kyoka shot up from her bed, drenched in sweat and clutching at her covers.

A nightmare.

Another goddamn nightmare… Right after she’d gotten her hopes up.

The punk girl sighed, resting her face in her hands. The previous night with Momo, their impromptu sleepover, Kyoka had gotten the best sleep of her life. She had felt warm and safe, and when she’d woken up, the heiress’ arms had been wrapped around her, as though she were a human-sized teddy bear.

Kyoka was the one who was supposed to be comforting her , and yet…

She never wanted her to leave.

But Momo did leave. And now we were back to our regularly scheduled programming.

“Ugh.” Kyoka groaned, pulling herself out of bed. Her skin felt itchy and hot. Stripping out of her sweatshirt, she was left in a pair of gray sweatpants and her yellow tank top with ‘DEEP DOPE’ written across the front. She took a deep breath as the cool air touched her skin.

Looking over at her phone on the nightstand, she saw that it was half past two in the morning. Nowhere near dawn.

“... sh*t.”

“I’m sorry, Izuku, I really wanted to tell you as soon as I heard the news, but everyone working on the project had to sign an NDA. Even now, I still can’t discuss any of the details.”

“It’s fine, Melissa, I’m just glad I get to see you again so soon.” Izuku smiled at the blonde through their video call. “I haven’t been back to I-Island since my first visit. Hopefully things are less… chaotic this time around though.”

“We’re quadruple-checking all of our security this time around. A seagull couldn’t even land here without proper clearance. Trust me, it’ll all run like clockwork.”

“Yeah… I don’t know if you’ve heard but trouble tends to find me wherever I go. I literally cannot recall the last time I took a trip somewhere and someone didn’t try to kill me while I was there.”

“Oh, I’ve accounted for the ‘Deku-Factor’ alright, but that’s getting into those classified details. Anyways, we’ve talked enough about things over here, how are things at U.A.? Are you getting back into the swing of things?” Melissa asked, a curious look on her face.

“I mean…” Izuku rubbed the back of his neck. “I guess? Things are pretty different from when I left. It’s a whole different lifestyle than anything I’m used to. We have a lot more responsibilities around campus now, and I haven’t even gotten to do any real hero-ing since I got back.”

“Well, you were ‘hero-ing’ non-stop for a year. I think you might be overdue for some student-ing.” Melissa pointed out. “Still, you’ve got practical heroics to keep you in fighting shape, right? Oh! How’s my suit holding up? Any issues?”

“ Our suit is doing just fine, no problems at all. It’s perfect…”

“You know, you’re saying all of these nice things, and yet somehow I’m sensing a ‘but’ coming.”

“But-”

“Knew it. I’m great at sniffing out buts…” Melissa paused. “Y’know what, how about you talk for a while?”

“Okay, so I showed the suit to Hatsume, or well… more like she demanded to see it and she…”

“Tried to burn it?”

“No! She just… threw it in the garbage is all.” Izuku explained, averting his eyes. “I pulled it out immediately, of course. But she kinda banned me from using it out in the field. Or in training. Or anywhere she can ever see it.”

“That girl.” Melissa gritted her teeth. “Y’know, she has so much talent, if she could ever just get over herself and actually learn to respect another person-”

“Hatsume does respect you! And your work!” Izuku argued.

“Really?” The blonde asked skeptically. “She said that?”

“I mean, not in so many words, but… Look, ever since she saw your design, Hatsume’s been hard at work trying to top you- err, top it . At least, I think so. She hasn’t really spoken to me since then. Um hey, quick question,” Izuku quickly segued the conversation. “How much time is too much in the support lab?”

“Huh? Well during my big projects I’ll probably spend about sixteen, maybe… eighteen hours straight? It used to be more in my first few years of school here, but I would crash so badly afterward, my health was an absolute wreck.”

“Okay so, living in your workspace is definitely bad then, right?”

“Oh god, is she really doing that? Nevermind, of course she is.” Melissa rolled her eyes.

“You think I should do something? Like an intervention?” Izuku suggested.

“Do you really think it would do anything?”

“I mean, I could try .”

“Always the hero.” Melissa smiled and shook her head. “Look, I’ve gotta go now, but we’ll keep in touch alright?”

“Of course, I’ve got work I need to get to as well.” Izuku replied sheepishly. “But I’m looking forward to seeing you again!”

“Me too!” Melissa smiled. “Alright, lo-*ahem* Uh, goodbye!!”

The video call ended and Izuku’s phone screen went dark. Leaning back in his seat, the boy closed his eyes and let out a sigh.

The stack of papers in front of him didn’t seem to shrink at all, no matter how much work he put into them. He didn’t think he was this far behind everyone.

“Ugh, I need electrolytes.” Izuku whined, placing a hand to his forehead. “I think we keep some sports drinks in the fridge.”

Standing up, he stretched out his limbs, feeling his joints loudly pop after not moving for hours. With a yawn, he began his trek toward the kitchen. Blackwhip opened the bedroom door for him before shutting it as he left.

Going down the stairs and into 3-A’s kitchen, Izuku found his bounty. As he grabbed the drink out of the fridge, the boy felt his stomach growl.

“I guess some cereal wouldn’t hurt. It’s only… oh god, 4am?” He remarked, checking the time on a nearby digital clock. “I have got to get back on a regular sleep schedule.”

Izuku pinched the bridge of his nose. From his back, three tendrils of Blackwhip snaked out of his back, each grabbing a different component for his breakfast while Izuku reopened the refrigerator. As he pulled the milk out of the fridge, a sudden noise shocked him.

“Ah!” A startled voice cried out, quickly accompanied by the sound of glass shattering and a large thud.

“Jirou!” Izuku said in a panic, seeing the frightened girl lying on the floor, a broken glass lying at her feet. “sh*t! I-I’m so sorry! Are you okay? I didn’t think anyone else was down here!”

The girl simply stared up at him with wide eyes, her mouth slightly agape.

“A-Are you hurt at all? Did the glass cut you or-” Izuku reached out to help Jirou up.

“Hnn!”

At the sight of his outstretched hand, the indigo-haired girl flinched in fear, a soft whimper escaping from her lips. She raised a weak hand defensively, and her breathing became labored.

“Jirou? Jirou-san? What’s wrong?” Izuku immediately knelt down to the floor. “Jirou?”

He attempted to reach out his hand again, now at her level. When the girl flinched at his touch, he immediately drew his hand back. Her breathing was even heavier now, and as close as he was, Izuku could see perspiration forming on her forehead.

He knew those symptoms.

“Alright, Jirou? I-I think that you’re having a panic attack.” Izuku explained. “Can you hear me? I-I need you to nod if you can hear me.”

Jirou’s eyes darted around the room before finally landing on Izuku. She audibly gulped but finally nodded her head.

“Good, okay.” Izuku took a deep breath in, trying to calm himself. “Alright, I need you to press your tongue to the roof of your mouth and hold it there. Okay? Like this.”

He demonstrated his instructions, opening his mouth wide enough for Jirou to see. The girl opened her mouth similarly and followed along with his instructions.

“Now exhale. Deeeep breath out. Now I want you to follow that with a big breath in. Four seconds, I’ll count them out for you. Alright?”

Jirou nodded along, drawing in a steady breath.

“One, two, three, four. Hold onto that breath, alright?” Izuku gave his best reassuring smile.

“We’re gonna get through this.”

Fifteen minutes later, Kyoka was sitting at the kitchen counter with her head down, unable to face the boy in front of her.

“Midoriya, I’m… I’m really sorry that you had to see me like that. I-I don’t even know what happened to make me-”

“It’s fine, Jirou-san.” The taller boy assured her. “You don’t need to justify a thing to me.”

After Kyoka had assured him that she was okay, Midoriya had left to grab a broom and dustpan from the nearby closet and began cleaning up the mess. Thankfully, it seemed that the noise of the glass breaking hadn’t woken anyone up, judging by the fact that it was still just the two of them in the kitchen.

“Still, I’m more just… embarrassed .” Kyoka anxiously shifted her weight on the stool. “I uh, I just can’t seem to stop f*cking things up lately.”

“Even if that were true,” Midoriya began. “Which I don’t think it is, you’re entitled to have a bad week or two. Heroism is hard and we can’t always be operating at a hundred percent.”

“Tch. Easy to say when your one percent is my hundred.” Kyoka muttered to herself.

“Huh?” Midoriya looked up from cleaning, clearly having heard her.

“Urgh, I mean it’s just… we can’t all be you , Midori.” Kyoka gestured to the boy. “I’m not a perfect hero with a-a soul that burns for justice. I can’t bounce back from almost dying time after time and still walk around like nothing’s changed. I went through some f*cked up sh*t and it f*cked me up and now I’m waking up in cold sweats and flinching at shadows and…” She paused, finally looking up at Izuku.

The boy met her gaze with his own, listening intently with a look of concern on his face.

“I don’t know how I can be a hero like this.” She finally confessed.

“Jirou-”

“Save it.” She held up her hand. “I’m not in the mood for the whole ‘rousing speech’ thing. I’ve been dealing with this for a while now, I’ll figure sh*t out on my own.” Kyoka rose from her stool, moving to exit the kitchen. “Sorry about the mess and… everything else. Just please don’t mention this to anyone, alright?”

She wanted to leave it at that, going up the stairs and back to her room to hopefully distract herself on her phone until dawn came. But Midoriya had other plans.

“Can I just… correct something you said?” He asked.

Inhaling a deep breath through her nose, Kyoka turned around.

“What?” She asked impatiently, crossing her arms.

“I am… far from a perfect hero.” He explained.

“Ugh, Midori-” The punk girl rolled her eyes.

“Please, just listen.” He held up a hand to silence her. “I am all kinds of f*cked up. Most nights I have nightmares of all the people that died because of me . Sometimes when I’m going about my day I just, I stop and-and I think about the times that I nearly died . I think about how my mom would react if I did die. And then I think about all of the expectations that the whole world now has for me now, and this image of me they have in their heads, and how desperately I want to be that image for them. But I’m me and I’m weak and I feel afraid sometimes. Other times it's even worse. I learned that breathing technique I showed you because… well, I get panic attacks too.”

Kyoka stared at the boy, her mouth slightly agape, taken aback by his sudden confession.

“So… yeah.” Midoriya looked away, rubbing the back of his neck. “You should know that you aren’t the only one who… doesn’t really know what they’re doing.”

“W-Why are you telling me this?” Kyoka finally asked.

“Because a um, a close friend of mine told me that I should find someone to confide in.” He admitted bashfully, his cheeks burning red. “Someone who’s gone through something similar and can kind of… relate to my situation. Saying it out loud now, I’m kind of realizing how selfish this all sounds. You didn’t ask to hear my life story and now it feels like I’m making this all about me and… yeah. Sorry. But uh, hey, at the very least now you’ve got dirt on me too, right?”

Kyoka took a step toward Midoriya, looking up at the taller boy. He was nervous and uncomfortable, having just spilled his guts out to a classmate whom he wasn’t particularly close with. For all he knew, she could tell the whole world his secret and humiliate him publicly. News outlets would certainly pay for that kind of insider info.

… Okay, so maybe he knew her well enough to know she wouldn’t do that , but he was still putting a lot of trust in her.

“Geez, you are really something else, Midoriya.” Kyoka lamented, running her hand through her hair.

“Yeah. I overstepped, didn’t I?” The green-haired boy asked, hanging his head. Looking up, he saw Kyoka approaching him. “A-Am I about to get the ‘Kaminari treatment’?”

“No, dummy .” The girl scoffed. “Though after that comment, it’s not off the table.”

“Then what… oh.”

Midoriya was caught off guard when Kyoka suddenly wrapped her arms around his midsection, resting her head against his large chest. Kyoka had never hugged a guy before, or rather, a guy who wasn’t her dad. But this was very different from that. She could see why Mina was always looking for an excuse to glomp onto the boy. He felt like a very firm pillow.

It was nice.

After a moment’s hesitation, she felt his large arms come to rest on her back. She let out a soft sigh of relief.

“Thank you.” She spoke softly into his chest. “For being my friend.”

“Of course.”

Kyoka separated from the embrace and awkwardly turned to look away. She could hear the boy’s elevated heart rate at the physical contact he’d received and couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed for the boy.

“S-So um, I guess I’ll be… going now.” Kyoka pointed toward the stairs leading to the girls’ dorms.

“Right yeah, I should… also be doing that.” Midoriya nodded, pointing in the other direction. “Goodnight.”

The pair walked their separate ways before Kyoka turned around and spoke a final time.

“Um, look Mido- Izuku,” The boy turned at the sound of his name. “If you ever… I mean… I’m willing to listen, if you ever wanna talk about… whatever.”

Izuku looked at her, a smile forming on his face. He nodded.

“Same to you. And Jirou?”

“Hmm?”

“I’m glad you’re my friend too.”

As the doors to the 3-A dorms creaked open, Mineta Minoru peaked his head outside. Cautiously observing his surroundings, once he assessed that the coast was clear, he began to tip-toe down the steps and into the courtyard. Pulling the hood of his jacket over his head, it did comically little to hide his prominent hairstyle from view.

It was early in the morning, perhaps too early to even call it morning as the sky was still dark without a trace of sunlight. While it wasn’t necessarily to his taste, Minoru’s client had requested this time specifically, so he had no choice but to meet their demands; especially given how much cash he stood to make from this deal.

Spotting one of the campus security bots doing a sweep of the area, the small boy dove into a nearby bush to escape from its sight. When it finally rolled past him, Minoru rolled out onto the school’s lawn, quickly dashing across the courtyard as fast as his legs would take him, the bag at his side slapping against him as he ran.

When he finally reached the other side of the yard, he let out a sigh of relief.

“You’re late.” An annoyed voice spoke up, causing the boy to flinch.

Whirling around, he saw a figure approaching him, their face obscured by the shadow of Class 3-B’s dormitory.

“Tch. I’m here, aren’t I?” Minoru replied, reaching for the bag at his side. “I’ve got your order. You got the money?”

Rather than reply, the figure reached into their pocket. Minoru, prepared for anything, took a defensive stance, one hand reaching for his head in case the deal went south. His fears were unfounded however, as the figure held out the stack of cash they had promised him. Nevertheless, the boy quickly snatched the cash away before thumbing through the bills.

When he determined it was the amount they had agreed upon, Minoru nodded his head before pocketing the money.

“Y’know, I oughta charge you extra for the trouble of getting here. I hear there’s talk of upping campus security. Might make your future purchases more difficult .” He explained, handing over the bag at his side.

“Hmm.” The figure simply nodded in response, not really paying him much mind.

Pulling free the contents of the bag, they carefully looked over everything inside. A towel, a t-shirt, a water bottle, and several polaroid photographs. When the figure tried reaching for more, only to discover nothing else inside, their head whipped around toward Minoru.

In a flash, the boy was dangling off the ground, hoisted by the collar of his jacket.

“Where is the rest, little man ?” They demanded.

“Sorry! I’m sorry! I forgot!” Minoru quickly reached into his pocket, pulling out a toothbrush with a green handle. “I had to grab it last minute! I forgot to put it in the bag!”

After handing the item over, the small boy was promptly dropped to the ground. By the time he pulled himself up, the figure was already gone, along with all of the items that Minoru had brought.

“Geez,” He muttered to himself. “Watch yourself, Midoriya.”

The boy brushed off the dirt and dust on his clothes.

“Even I wouldn’t mess with that crazy broad.”

“Thank you for meeting with me on such short notice, Toshi.” Inko Midoriya bowed her head, the steam from her coffee cup warming her face. “To be honest, I’m surprised you managed to meet with me at all with your new job. Don’t you have, I don’t know, forms to sign or something?”

“I’ll always make time whenever you need it. Otherwise, how could I ever call myself a hero?” Toshinori Yagi waved away her concerns, taking a sip from his own coffee. “Besides, my position in Public Safety isn’t as demanding as you might think. They really only wanted me as a figurehead. They were more concerned with optics than actually making any concrete changes, but I still have enough friends in the department that they can’t shut me out of decisions entirely.”

Inko smiled at that.

“Always the hero.”

The pair were chatting in a hole-in-the-wall cafe near Mustafa. Outside, the sun was just beginning to rise over the horizon and inside, the cafe staff were still opening up shop for the day. Inko had called the man in front of her late last night, hoping to slip some time into his undoubtedly packed schedule. To her surprise, he had been more than willing to meet with her whenever she pleased.

“So, what was on your mind, Inko? Have you spoken with Young Izuku about… well…?” Toshinori sucked on his teeth, wincing at the memory from the other night.

Inko blushed before looking down again, tapping her fingers against her cup to distract herself.

“Um, n-no. I haven’t really had the chance to speak with him since well… then .” She furrowed her brow before taking a sip of coffee. “He’s been too busy with schoolwork and training to take most of my calls. But between us, I think he’s been trying to avoid me, or rather, avoid having that conversation.”

“Are you worried how he’ll react?” Toshinori reached a hand across the table, but Inko was hesitant to reach out her own.

“I-I don’t know.” Inko admitted with a sigh. “You know Izuku, he’s the sweetest boy in the world. He cares for me so much and he admires you more than anyone. Part of me thought he’d be ecstatic and another part thought he might feel betrayed. Honestly, right now I have no idea what’s going on in his head. With everything else going on with him… I feel like I should just give him some space right now. Give him some time to think, you know?”

Toshinori seemed to think for a moment before nodding his head in understanding.

“So then this isn’t about him, I take it?” The blond man asked. “Can I assume then that this is regarding our… other conversation?”

Inko didn’t say anything in response, she simply nodded her head while looking intently at her rapidly cooling beverage.

“I see. And Young Izuku still doesn’t know yet.” Toshinori set down his cup, giving Inko a serious look. “Well, it isn’t my place to lecture you on parenting, your credentials far exceed mine on that front. But as someone who has experienced numerous failed relationships, both professional and personal, I can tell you that the cause behind nearly all of those has been a lack of communication. If you truly want my advice: Speak with them. Soon. Either tell Izuku that his father wishes to meet with him, or tell Hisashi that you don’t wish to see him. Waiting at a crossroads will only cause more pain for all parties involved.”

“I… I wish it were that simple, Toshi.” Inko lamented. “Hisashi, well he doesn’t exactly need my permission. Seeing as how we aren’t technically divorced, at least in the eyes of the law, I can’t actually prevent him from visiting Izuku.”

“You two are… still married?” Toshinori stated with some surprise.

“It was just easier for us both that way. Financially. Socially… Emotionally.” The green-haired woman looked away. “It happened a long time ago, and the two of us haven’t even spoken to one another since. I doubt Izuku even has any memories of his father.”

“Do you think-” The retired hero paused, as though debating his words in his head. “Why do you think he’s choosing to return now of all times? Could there be… incentive for him?”

“You think he’s after money.” Inko spoke plainly, interpreting the man’s words.

Grimly, the blond man nodded his head.

“Money, fame, any number of things he could leech from Young Izuku and you. Forgive me for the accusation, but I’ve seen men perform truly heinous acts in my time.”

“It doesn’t sound like the man I knew. Hisashi was never too ambitious or concerned with wealth. All he was ever concerned with was the happiness of others. He was truly kind and cared for his family above all else. At least… he did at one point.” The pain in Inko’s voice was apparent. Memories of their time together flashed through her mind and her heart felt like a stone in her chest. “Izuku, he… he reminds me so much of him.” Tears began to race down the woman’s cheeks.

“Inko, I…” Toshinori tried to find the words. “I’m so sorry. This must be so difficult for you.”

“I don’t know what to do, Toshi. I don’t know what to tell Izuku, I don’t even know what I think about all of this! Hisashi was… He was my whole world . I loved him so much, I-I couldn’t imagine being without him for a single day. And then he was gone, and it was just Izuku and I.” Inko confessed. “And I’m afraid , Toshinori. Afraid how Izuku will react, afraid how I’ll react when he gets here. I thought I had moved on! I-I thought I had put those thoughts behind me, a-and now… Now it’s like the more I think about it, the more I panic, and-and-”

Toshinori stood up from his seat at the booth and stepped next to Inko, crouching to meet her gaze. Placing his hands on her shoulders, he looked the woman in the eye with a serious expression.

“Inko, you know I care for you and Young Izuku as though you were my own family. So long as I live, I will not let anyone hurt either of you. Whenever you need me, I will be there for you both. And if you truly wish it, I can call in as many favors as it takes and keep him from ever coming to Japan.”

Inko appreciated the offer. It was nice to know that she had friends willing to go so far for her. To know that she was loved by others as much as she had loved Hisashi. Taking a few deep breaths, Inko waited until she had calmed down a bit to speak again.

“T-Thank you, Toshinori.” Her heart began to beat steadily once more. “But even as much as it frightens me, I know I have to face this. You and Izuku are both so brave for the sake of others, the least I can do is be brave for myself.”

“You are brave, Inko, never doubt that. But that doesn’t mean you can’t ask for help when you need it. Izuku and I both had a difficult time learning that lesson, but in the end we both came around.” He stood up from the floor, but Toshinori’s hands never left her. “Please remember that I am here for you.”

Inko looked up at the skeletal man, her eyes wide and her mouth slightly agape. Wordlessly, she nodded.

“I’m glad.” He smiled at her. “Now, would you like me to give you a lift to work?”

Inko pictured a muscular All Might carrying her in his massive arms as they leapt through the sky.

“I-I thought you couldn’t use your quirk any more?” She replied with a blush.

“I… just meant in my car.”

*Knock* *Knock*

Itsuka Kendo was completing her morning stretches in her room when a surprise knock sounded at her door. Checking the time, the orange-haired girl saw that it was six in the morning and the sun was barely up. Who could need her this early in the day?

The girl looked at herself in the mirror, making sure that she was at least presentable. Her hair was down from its usual side ponytail and she was dressed in a white t-shirt and black boyshorts. Quickly, she decided to slip on her U.A. track pants before opening the door, on the off-chance that it was a one of the boys of her class. Dorm rules were pretty strict about that kind of thing though and none of the guys would risk it with the class rep of all people.

Opening the door, Itsuka was surprised to find no one there. Who-

“Ahem.” A soft voice cleared their throat.

The tomboy glanced down to see a bob of brown hair staring up at her.

Kinoko Komori was dressed in a pink nightgown and wearing a pair of slippers with small teddy bears decorated on the front. At a glance, most people would not assume that the tiny brunette was seventeen, especially given her choice of wardrobe and general demeanor. If Itsuka hadn’t spent the past two years getting to know her, she would probably assume Kinoko to still be a pre-teen.

“Oh! Kinoko, hey.” Itsuka greeted the short girl. “Can I help you with something?”

“Hello Kendo-san, um, how are you this fine morning?” Kinoko waved nervously. “Did you get mush sleep last night?”

“Alright, which is it?” The class representative crossed her arms, furrowing her brow.

“W-Whatever do you mean, Kendo-san? I was just-”

“You guys only address me formally whenever you did something against the rules or you’re planning to do something against the rules. So which is it?” She asked again, her green eyes narrowing at the smaller girl.

“The um, the latter…” Kinoko finally admitted.

“Ugh, alright. That’s the better of the two options, I guess.” Itsuka rolled her eyes. “On a scale of one to Monoma, how bad are we talking?”

Itsuka enjoyed her role as Class B’s big sister. She liked having others look to her for guidance and support through their hardest times. It made her feel… needed. What she didn’t enjoy however, was when the other students would ask her to cover for them when they did something bad. She was by no means Tenya Iida, a stickler for the rules to a fault, but she would still rather not be complicit in anyone’s schemes.

“Not bad at all! I swear! Just…” The mushroom girl tapped her fingers together. “Bringing a boy over past curfew.”

“What?!” Itsuka’s face lit up with alarm.

Quickly leaning out into the hall, she checked both directions before yanking the smaller girl into her room and slamming the door shut behind her.

“Bed. Now.” The tomboy pointed Kinoko toward the bed before taking a seat across from her on a sit-up bench, one of the various pieces of exercise equipment sitting in Itsuka’s room. Kinoko wordlessly nodded before hopping up onto Itsuka’s bed, her feet dangling off the edge while she resumed tapping her fingers together.

“Explain.” Itsuka demanded, crossing her legs as she stared down her classmate.

“I promise, it’s not what you think!” Kinoko shook her head. “I just want a guest for my show and Midoriya already agreed to-”

“ Midoriya?! ” Itsuka slapped her hand against her forehead. “Ugh, why is it that every time something goes on around here, he’s involved somehow?”

“I just want to feature him on the show which will hopefully net me some new viewership, which I could really use because at the moment I’ve only got-”

“Look, I don’t need all the details.” Itsuka raised a hand to silence the girl. “It’s not that I don’t care. I do. But this is just… a bad idea, one that’s likely to get you both in trouble with the school.”

“If anything goes wrong, I’ll take the blame. Besides, Midoriya’s a celebrity, the most they would give him is a slap on the wrist.” Kinoko reasoned. “Even so, I know it’s a big ask, so I’m making this the one thing I ask of him as our class servant.”

Itsuka let out another long sigh.

“Alright Kinoko, there’s something you should know. The whole ‘servant’ thing was rigged from the beginning. One of the students in our class set things up so that Midoriya would win the vote.”

“Oh…” Kinoko seemed to take a moment to process the information.

“Yeah, so look, I’ll tell Midoriya about the whole thing later today and hopefully we can all just laugh it off and-”

“No!” Kinoko quickly interjected, her eyes lighting up with fear.

“No?” Itsuka raised an eyebrow.

“Just… Could you hold off for one day? I just need him for tonight! I already promised my viewers that I’d have him on as a guest and if I don’t follow through then I’ll lose any chance at making it big and securing a sponsorship!”

Itsuka stared at the girl, her mouth agape.

“What are you talking about, Kinoko? Am I the only person in this class who hasn’t completely lost their mind? We’re supposed to be hero students! We don’t use our friends!”

“I… I know.” Kinoko admitted shyly, looking away from the girl before her. “But I just really need Midoriya to help me out this one time.”

The brunette stared up at Itsuka with wide eyes.

“Kinoko.” Itsuka crossed her arms.

The small girl’s lower lip began to quiver.

“Kinoko…” Itsuka’s stern expression began to crack.

By now, the girl’s eyes were the size of dinner plates.

“Fine!” Itsuka finally relented, surrendering to the girl’s cuteness. “I won’t tell him until tomorrow. But if he asks me if you knew, I am not covering for you.”

“Yay!” Kinoko leapt down from the bed before running over and hugging Itsuka, her chubby cheeks pressing against Itsuka’s. “You’re the best, Big Sis Kendo!”

Before Itsuka could interrogate her further, Kinoko had already excused herself from the room, happily waving goodbye as she left.

“Ugh.” Itsuka placed her head in her palms.

“I’m the worst.”

Momo Yaoyorozu stared down at her blank sheet of paper, an equally blank expression on her face.

“Are you doing alright, Yaomomo?” Kendo asked, leaning down toward her friend. “You seemed distracted during today’s meeting.”

“Oh! Kendo-san! M-My apologies.” Momo quickly sat up in her chair. “I didn’t mean to give the impression that I didn’t care about the topic at hand! I was merely… preoccupied with other thoughts.”

Momo looked down at her paper again, tapping her pencil against her desk. The third year student council had just welcomed the newly elected members from the first year classes, informing them of their new responsibilities and the expectations placed on them. Or at least, that’s what Momo believed had been going on around her. The heiress had been too distracted staring at the blank page in front of her to pay much attention.

“Yeah, I kinda figured that when Iida called on you to speak and you more or less just sat there silently.” Kendo chuckled.

“H-He did?” Momo’s eyes widened and her cheeks burned red. “Oh my goodness, I must have made such a terrible impression on our juniors!”

“It’s alright, I stepped in and took over.” The orange-haired girl assured her. “But I will admit I’m more than a little concerned. Lately this school seems like a powder keg that could go off at any moment. So if there’s anything I can do to help ease your troubles, I’m all ears.”

Momo couldn’t help but think of another girl in her life who had said something similar not too long ago. Unconsciously, a small smile formed on the heiress’ lips. However, when her mind returned to the situation at hand, Momo frowned once again, releasing her pencil as she scooted her seat back from the student council table.

“I’m afraid that you’ve simply caught me at an unfortunate juncture.” The ravenette explained. “Things are… not well for my family at the moment.”

“This wouldn’t have anything to do with those nasty rumors I heard some of the underclassmen discussing, would it? About the Yaoyorozu Conglomerate?” Kendo raised an eyebrow, leaning her hip against the table.

“Then it sounds as though the news has made it to the school.” Momo confirmed with a sad nod. “I’m afraid that it’s no simple rumor. As ashamed as I am to admit it, my family has played no small part in the suffering of this country.”

“Oh man.” Kendo’s expression fell. “And here I thought I had problems. Momo, if you need anything-”

“It’s quite alright, Kendo-san.” The heiress assured her. “You’ve simply caught me in the middle of a brainstorming session. I’ve been trying to think of a way to help allay public concern regarding our company’s recent history .”

“Isn’t there like… a department for that at your company?”

“Yes,” Momo nodded. “We do indeed have a Public Relations department, and they are working hard to mend the situation as best as they can. However, seeing as I have a much more public image than my father, being a prospective hero and whatnot, the public at large has chosen to direct their ire primarily toward me. So if a change in our reputation is to be made, I must be the one to spearhead it.”

The heiress stated her unfortunate situation so matter-of-factly that it seemed to throw off Kendo, who had a shocked expression on her face.

“How could someone do something so cruel?! Blaming you for something that was completely out of your control?! I ought to kick their ass!”

“Kendo-san!” Momo glanced around, making sure the room was empty. “Don’t say something so crass out loud! One of the first years could hear you!”

“How are you so calm about this, Yaomomo? If I were in your position… I don’t even want to think how I would react!”

“Well, I was certainly upset when I heard the news. And even now, it still pains me to think about.” Momo admitted. “However, simply crying over the situation at large will not help to resolve it. I must take action. That is why I’ve been so… distracted as of late.”

The ravenette held up her blank sheet of paper.

“I’m afraid I’ve made little progress in trying to find a realistic means of mending the gap between myself and the people.” She lamented.

“How long have you been at it?”

“Since Monday.”

“Four days?!” Kendo’s eyes widened again and she grabbed Momo by the hand, leading her out of the room. “Geez, c’mon. You need a break from this. Let’s go grab some lunch and I’ll try to help take your mind off this.”

“I hardly think that will be a productive use of time.” The heiress argued.

“Taking care of your mental health is absolutely a productive use of time.” Kendo contested. “And if you’ve been at it this long, I severely doubt you’re about to make any serious breakthroughs.”

“Kendo-san…”

“C’mon, I’m sure you’re eager to think about something that isn’t this , right? We can chat about something fun instead.” The orange-haired girl suggested. “Like, how about the Sports Festival? I-Island huh? Who would’ve thought? It’ll be my first time there, but you guys in Class A have all been before, right?”

“W-Well yes, we have. I’ve actually visited it several times, my family has stock in several support companies there.” Momo explained.

“Oooh, so you must know all the must-see spots. You’ll have to give me a tour when we get there.”

“Well actually, the island changes its layout on an annual basis. So I’m afraid that I won’t be much help at navigating. Apologies.”

“No problem.” Kendo assured her. “Did you hear that we’ll be facing off against the other hero schools this year? It’ll be just like the Licensing Exam!”

“Oh? Mr. Aizawa failed to inform us of that, though at this point, I shouldn’t be surprised.”

“Yeah, no offense, but I’m kinda relieved I don’t have that guy as my homeroom teacher. From what I’ve heard, he’s an awesome hero, but as a teacher, wel… He seems intense . I mean, our Mr. Vlad is also intense, but in a different way. He just cares a lot.”

Momo laughed at the statement. A good, genuine laugh. As thoughts about her current situation faded to the back of her mind, she soon found herself instead looking forward to the future.

What had she done to deserve such great friends?